The Gaza pullout plan has been approved by Israel’s cabinet: Israeli Cabinet OKs Withdrawal From Gaza.

JERUSALEM - Israel’s Cabinet gave final approval Sunday to the government’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements, marking the first time an Israeli government decided to dismantle Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also signed an order making it illegal for Israelis to be in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank after July 20, a government official said.

The Cabinet also approved the final route of Israel’s separation barrier in the West Bank, initially constructed to keep out Palestinian attackers but increasingly seen as a blueprint for a final border between Israel and a future Palestinian state. Expected to run about 425 miles, the barrier is about one-third complete.

In a televised speech hours after his Cabinet approved the plan, Sharon told his people that the pullout would “give hope for a better future for all of us.”

“I’m convinced that the decision we took is the right one to ensure Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state,” he said.

Palestinian officials released a statement thanking Israel for the concessions, and promising to redouble efforts toward disarming terrorist groups and ending the violence.

Just kidding.

In the real world, the crocodiles are hungrier than ever: PLO Exec. Comm. slams security fence.

“This is a positive step, but we want to see a withdrawal from all the territories occupied in 1967,” a top PA official told The Jerusalem Post. “As far as we’re concerned, there’s no difference between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and Jerusalem. These are all occupied territories.” …

Abbas confirmed a report in the Post last week according to which Hamas and Islamic Jihad members have been invited to join the PA security forces. “After that,” he added, “there will be no illegal arms, because the fighters must first hand them over.”

He also reemphasized that he would not use force to disarm Palestinian groups. “We don’t want conflict with the armed organizations, but agreement,” he said. …

As the government convened in Jerusalem to vote on evacuating settlements, Abbas chaired a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee in Ramallah to discuss the latest developments in the wake of Sunday’s landmark decision.

Following the meeting, the committee issued a statement strongly condemning the government’s decision to continue building the security fence in the West Bank as a “big crime” and called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to halt the construction.

The committee said that the security fence was designed to separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip and isolate Jerusalem to make it impossible to establish a viable Palestinian state.

“This decision has grave strategic dimensions,” the committee said in a statement. “Israel is exploiting the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip to cover up for its expansionist policies in the West Bank.”

It also called on the US and the international community to interfere with Israel to stop “this big crime.”

The committee said the PA would bring the case to the attention of the UN Security Council and warned that Israel’s latest measures jeopardized the road map plan and violates international law.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a former minister of information and member of the PLO Executive Committee, said he is skeptical of Israeli plans to pull out of Palestinian towns in the West Bank, calling the announcement a “trick.”

Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians were demanding the removal of all checkpoints at the entrances to Palestinian cities and not just a withdrawal from these areas.