Disengagement Digest. 22 August 2005

Palestine The Israeli army today announced that the Karni crossing would not reopen, despite previous assurances that it would.
The army had stated the crossing, which has been closed throughout the disengagement, would open after midday.
The crossing is the only crossing through which goods can travel in and out of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli bulldozers have been destroying structures in the settlement of Morag, north of the town of Rafah, according to Al Mezan's fieldworkers.
Meanwhile, the military site of Mahfoudha, near the entrance of the Gush Katif settlement bloc, was also being dismantled.
The site was the target of a Palestinian military operation a few months ago.
A newly built military site near the old one is still standing and being used to control movement through the Abu Holi checkpoint.
The last of Israel's settlements in the Gaza Strip, the flashpoint settlement of Netzarim, was evacuated today.
The evacuation brings to an end 38 years of the settler presence in Gaza.
While the settlers have now all left, significantly quicker than was expected, settlement buildings must first be demolished and the Israeli army must redeploy to the Israeli border, before the evacuated land is turned over to the Palestinians.
Exactly how long this process will take is not yet clear, though demolition has already started in several of the settlements.
Masked and armed members of Fatah's military wing converged at the Palestinian Legislative Council building yesterday to demand jobs.
While shots were fired in the air, no large-scale confrontation ensured.
The group's spokesman said the protestors were merely there to “seek our fair rights.
� He accused the government of opening jobs to those who didn,t deserve them, while passing over “those who made dear sacrifices.
â€? In a potential boost to the Palestinian Authority, the â€کrejectionist, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced yesterday that it would participate in January's parliamentary elections.
The group, which is one of the eight groups termed â€کrejectionist, for its position on the Oslo Accords, said the decision was taken as a result of the new election law.
Israel An Israeli-Egyptian deal on the deployment of Egyptian troops along the Philadephi Route has stalled over the issue of Egypt transferring arms to the Palestinian Authority.
The deal, which has been the subject of nearly 18 months of talks between the two sides, provides for the deployment of 750 Egyptian troops and administrative officials along the border route.
It also allows for the presence of 30 naval officers, who will patrol the coastline.

However, members of the Knesset and the Israel defense establishment have insisted on the need for a clause prohibiting the Egyptians from transferring arms to the Palestinian Authority.
Another round of talks between the sides on the issue is expected soon.
International The U.
S.
has pledged $30 million of aid for water projects in Gaza following the disengagement, in addition to $50 million to help job creation and finance housing projects, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday.

Abbas was meeting U.
S.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch, the first senior U.
S.
official to visit Gaza since a Palestinian attack on a U.
S.
convoy in Gaza in 2003, which killed three Americans.

Welch said he expected the disengagement to “reenergize the Roadmap� but emphasized the need for security and economic reforms in Gaza.
He said the U.
S.
intends to ask donors for additional aid to the Palestinians following the completion of the disengagement.