By Dan Williams
20 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -     Israel will ask the United States for $2.2 billion, one of the largest aid requests by the Jewish state, to pay for its planned withdrawal from the occupied     Gaza Strip, Israeli political sources said on Monday. money
The special funding would be used to pay for the evacuation, slated to begin in mid-August, of all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the     West Bank, and the relocation of the 9,000 settlers to underpopulated areas of Israel.
In a debate scheduled for Tuesday, Israel's security cabinet is to consider a Defense Ministry recommendation to keep Israeli forces in the northern West Bank area where the four settlements are to be evacuated, government officials said.

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