After Gaza: with Israel out of Gaza, the Palestinians face critical challenges and tough choices about their future.

• Author: Bilyeu, Suzanne

Roughly 8,500 Jewish settlers have packed up their lives and left Gaza, where many had lived for three decades. The pullout in mid-August came a year and a half after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared his intention to withdraw from this narrow strip of land on the Mediterranean, captured by Israel from Egypt during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. After years of bloody conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Sharon's initiative to "disengage" from Gaza signifies one of the most important developments in the Middle East in recent years.

GIVING BACK LAND

This was not the first time Israel had ceded territory captured in the 1967 war. Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel returned part of the Golan Heights to Syria, and in 1982, Israel completed its return of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. But the Gaza pullout marks the first time that Israel has withdrawn from land that Palestinians want for an independent state.

The evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza divided Israelis, with about 60 percent supporting the withdrawal. About two thirds of the settlers left Gaza peacefully, but thousands defied the government's order to leave by the August 14 deadline, after which Israeli soldiers began to forcibly remove resisters from their homes. While Gaza's evacuees are entitled to compensation from the Israeli government, for those who believe that Gaza is a part of biblical Israel, the money means little.

By September 12, the Israeli military had demolished the settlers' empty houses and left Gaza as well. Palestinians celebrated by shooting off fireworks and, in some instances, setting fire to synagogues in the abandoned settlements.

While the Palestinians now have control over more territory than they have ever held, many question whether this will lead them to an independent state or a dead end.

"This is a test," says Basil Eleiwa, a Gaza businessman. "Either we prove to the entire world that we deserve to have an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank, and part of Jerusalem, or we prove the exact opposite."

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas faces several challenges. One is stopping Palestinian terrorism: Suicide bombings have killed nearly 1,000 Israelis since the latest Palestinian uprising began in 2000. Abbas is also faced with reviving Gaza's economy and negotiating with Israel about the future of the West Bank and the 240,000 Jewish settlers...