Shmuel Tal, a former resident of Gush Katif, described before the Inquiry Commission into the handling of the Disengagement, how he and other former residents of Dugit, Nissanit, and Elei Sinai, are still living in rented accommodation in Ashkelon. He also gave shocking statistics that showed how the former residents of these secular communities in northern Gaza were paying over the odds and could not afford to build their own homes, four years on. Tal squarely placed the blame on Yonatan Bassi, former head of the Disengagement Administration (SELA).

To read a report from The Jerusalem Post, click here.

President Shimon Peres has granted clemency to 59 people who were arrested during protests against the Disengagement. This effectively means that their criminal records for the offenses will be erased. The president took into account the fact that most of them were minors at the time, as well as the general climate at the time of the Disengagement.

To read a report on this from Haaretz, click here.

Speaking before the current commission of inquiry into the authorities’ handling of the Disengagement, former MK Zvi Hendel rejected Disengagement Administration head Yonatan Bassi’s claim that the expelled residents of Gush Katif were to blame for their own situation. Mr. Hendel, who lived in Gush Katif from 1977 until the pullout in 2005, described the events and the approach of the Jewish residents at that time.

To read an article from The Jerusalem Post describing Mr. Hendel’s statements, click here.