Settlers

Israel says residents of a small Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip have agreed to relocate to Israel, rather than resist the planned removal of all settlers from the occupied territory next year.

The official in charge of the Israeli government plan to evacuate all 8,000 Gaza settlers next year says 25 families in the Pe'at Sadeh settlement will voluntarily move together to southern Israel in March.

The settlement would be the first to be dismantled under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's evacuation plan, which has drawn calls for resistance from the top settler council.

The Sharon government has offered cash incentives for Gaza settlers willing to leave before the withdrawal, which is scheduled to begin in about eight months.

Story supplied by VOAnews