The void

Two sides to withdrawal, Sanjay Suri at IPS:

The beginning of the pullout of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip presents two contrasting pictures of two very differently placed people. While the Israelis are looking at comfortable compensation packages, thousands of Palestinians face the threat of starvation as a result of the Israeli pullout.

The average compensation packet for an Israeli settler home is around a quarter of a million dollars. But to that has been added a bonus payment, two years free rent at the new location, help to set it up, removals expenses, compensation for loss of land and redundancy compensation. For some families the compensation package is closer to half a million dollars.

On the other hand, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been busy stocking food to make sure that poor Palestinians in Gaza do not starve as the settlers move out.

"That is a real danger because every time there is a movement of settlers, the Israelis block off all access roads and communication," Arnold Vercken from the WFP told IPS from Jerusalem. "That means Palestinian people cannot have access to their businesses and their fields and their source of work."