In 2004 the Israeli government adopted a plan for its unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip and areas in the north of the West Bank, a plan which was carried out the following year. Debated in the Israeli parliament and governmental and academic circles, the Israeli ‘disengagement’ plan provoked disagreement with respect to its effects on the legal status of the Gaza Strip, and Israel's responsibility for the lives of Gazan Palestinians, if any, in its aftermath.

This paper seeks answers to the question of Israel's continued responsibility (or lack thereof) vis-à-vis the Occupied Palestinian Territories (hereinafter, OPT), and the status of those territories following the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip (and parts of the West Bank). Without being dismissive of arguments made to the contrary, this paper demonstrates the validity of the views of the majority of scholars that Israel has maintained the status of Occupying Power vis-à-vis the OPT, contrary to its claims and one of the main objectives of the ‘disengagement’, as announced by the Israeli government.