Five years after Israel's unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip, Palestinians living there are still waiting for the housing projects and factories the international community promised them.

The areas where most of the settlements once stood have yet to be transformed into apartments and working places for thousands of unemployed Palestinians who used to work in the Jewish communities.

Promises that the Gaza Strip would be turned into the Middle East's Hong Kong or Singapore sound today like a joke to many Palestinians...

...Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's new plan for a further disengagement, where Israel would stop supplying the Gaza Strip with water and electricity, has left both Hamas and the PA wondering about Israel's true intentions.

The Palestinians' biggest fear is that "disengagement 2" would solidify the split between the West Bank and Gaza Strip and make it permanent. They see the new plan as an Israeli attempt to create a separate Palestinian entity in the Gaza Strip that would be completely cut off from the West Bank.

"Israel wants to turn the Gaza Strip into a small Palestinian state," charged Hamas legislator Salah Bardaweel. "This is a dangerous plan because it's also designed to absolve Israel of its responsibilities as an occupation force."

As far as the PA is concerned, the first disengagement was a disaster because it boosted Hamas's popularity and paved the way for the movement's victory in the 2006 election and its subsequent violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

For Hamas, "disengagement 2" is bad because it would further isolate the Islamist regime. Hamas is worried that a complete disengagement would prompt the international community to stop holding Israel responsible for the miseries of the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip. It's as if Hamas is saying, "Please Israel, stay here in one form or another because we need to hold you responsible; otherwise, the people will start asking us difficult questions."