Israeli Cabinet Okays Payment to Gaza Settlers
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

JERUSALEM – Israel’s Cabinet approved a compensation plan yesterday for settlers who will be uprooted by Prime Minister Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, handing Mr. Sharon an important victory two days before a showdown in Parliament over the pullout.
Meanwhile, a team of Tunisian doctors examined Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat – who is recovering from the flu – and pronounced him “okay,” despite speculation he might be suffering from something more serious.
The compensation program, approved 13-6, is a key part of Mr. Sharon’s “unilateral disengagement” plan, which calls for a complete withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements next year.
The Cabinet victory, though expected, gave Mr. Sharon important momentum in the run-up to a far more important test Tuesday, when the Knesset votes for the first time on the entire withdrawal plan. Mr. Sharon also is expected to win that vote, but he needs a strong majority to marginalize his opponents.” The train has left the station, the implementation is under way,” government spokesman Raanan Gissin said of Mr. Sharon’s plan. “After the Knesset vote on Tuesday we will be in an irreversible process.”
Even if Mr. Sharon wins Tuesday’s vote, Parliament and the Cabinet will have to vote at least once more – and perhaps several more times – to approve actual evacuations, giving the plan’s highly organized opponents more chances to torpedo it.
Meanwhile, in southern Gaza, Israeli aircraft and tanks launched a series of strikes in the Khan Younis refugee camp late yesterday and early today that killed five Palestinian Arabs and wounded 23 others.