Israel's army entered the West Bank area on Tuesday to evacuate the last two Jewish settlements there. This ended Israel's decades-long occupation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Conflicts between the Israelis and Palestinians have been called a major stumbling block to Middle East peace. Israel formally began the pullout operation last Monday. The Israeli Prime Minister put forward the disengagement plan in 2003.It asked Israel to remove all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and 4 in the West Bank.
