Rebuilding Homesh may go forward: US “deeply troubled”

IDF central command chief Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox has declared Homesh a part of the Samaria Regional Council in line with a Knesset decision in March to roll back legislation ordering the evacuation of four communities at the northern tip of the West Bank. The order was part of Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip and its commitment to US President George W. Bush to withdraw additionally from Ganim, Kadim and S-Nur. Bush sought to facilitate the contiguity of a future Palestinian state to be achieved through land swaps. The repeal of Israel’s commitment has drawn international criticism, particularly from Washington.