Israel plans to pay an average of US$300,000 per family in compensation to settlers who leave the Gaza Strip and will give swift cash advances to those who go voluntarily, government officials said on Friday.
The cash advances could be available by August under a draft proposal by a government committee working out the details of a Gaza pullout plan that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet has approved in principle, the officials said.
Payouts before a planned March Cabinet vote on whether to begin removing settlements could force a showdown between Sharon and hardliners in his coalition, bringing it closer to collapse, political analysts said.
News on Wednesday that the committee was proposing that voluntary evacuations begin in two months set Sharon on a collision course with the powerful settler lobby, which sees cash advances as an attempt to make settlers to quietly and quickly.
Eran Sternberg, a spokesman for Gaza settlers, said most had signed a declaration refusing to leave or to negotiate payouts.
Government officials estimated the average payout per household at US$300,000, based on the number of family members and the size of agricultural plots.
Such a sum would be enough to buy a one-family house with a garden or a large apartment in many communities in Israel.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told Sharon the international community was ready to offer assistance and resources to ensure the plan's successful implementation, Sharon's office said in a statement.
The total government bill -- including a troop withdrawal from Gaza and removal of four West Bank settlements also scheduled to go -- could come to more than US$1.5 billion.
Israeli media reports said Sharon hoped to push settler compensation legislation through parliament by late next month.
But it is unclear whether his government can last that long. Sharon lost his parliamentary majority on Tuesday when two members of the pro-settler National Religious Party (NRP) defected from his coalition.
The NRP has still to make a final decision on whether to stick by the prime minister. Its departure from the government would likely spur Sharon to seek a partnership with the pro-withdrawal Labour Party or force early elections.
Sharon's plan envisages the removal of all 21 settlements in Gaza, a sandy coastal strip where 7,500 settlers and 1.3 million Palestinians live, and four of 120 in the West Bank, which is home to some 230,000 settlers and 2.4 million Palestinians.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
RSS