why destroy when you could build?

courtesy of www.arofish.org.uk

From the NYT: Palestinians prepare for Gaza withdrawal, but it won't be immediate:

"Israel has set aside a month to evacuate the settlers. After the settlers go, the military will probably need another few weeks to tear down the more than 1,500 homes in the Gaza settlements, a move that the Palestinians have approved."

I don't understand why existing structures need to be destroyed? Why shouldn't those homes to distributed to Palestinian families?

Still, the fact that with the return of Gaza, Palestinian isolation may be alleviated by the reopening of the Gaza airport, the freeing up of travel routes, etc. Although all reports continue to be cautious -- anticipating an attack by Jewish militants -- it seems that with three days left, the withdrawal has been fraught, but successful. The nyt's article is very pessimistic about the Palestinian celebrations that will follow the pull out. I can't imagine one could expect reserved calm in this situation though -- there has been nothing to celebrate besides deaths and oppression since the 2000 uprising. Scratch that, the uprising occurred because there hadn't been any progress or anything to celebrate in the years preceding it either.