Haaretz (Thursday): High Court rejects bids to quash disengagement law

[Jack Rabbit]

From Haaretz (Tel Aviv)
Dted Thursday June 9

High Court rejects bids to quash disengagement law
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies

An expanded panel of the High Court of Justice on Thursday upheld the government's plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, removing a major legal obstacle to the pullout.

The 11-judge panel headed by Chief Justice Aharon Barak also determined that "Judea and Samaria and the Gaza area are lands seized during warfare, and are not part of Israel."

However, the court also increased the compensation payments to which the Gaza evacuees are entitled.

The panel rejected 12 petitions by opponents to the withdrawal from all Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements, ruling the pullout can go ahead as planned and does not violate the settlers' human rights.

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