News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Chairman Ofir Akounis of the Knesset Economics Committee said Sunday that the committee would hold meetings every three months on the status of the Jews uprooted by Israel from Gaza and four northern Samarian communities in 2005. Akounis made his comments following a tour by committee members of the southern communities of Nitzan, Nitzanim, Zikim and Mivka'im, where the evictees are housed in caravillas and permanent housing is being developed. Committee members were shown the developments, as well as hurdles in the way of those developments.

Akounis said, "One can feel a significant change in the government and Knesset's treatment of the evictees of Gush Katif. It can be seen that the cogwheel, which was stuck from the expulsion until the start of this government and Knesset, has started to move. There are more hurdles, which the committee plans to remove in order to put an end to this human tragedy in which thousands of Jews were expelled from their homes and there is still no solution regarding living quarters."