Israel's Finance Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has resigned over an Israeli cabinet decision to approve the removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip.
He has long been opposed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for withdrawing from the occupied Gaza Strip.
Mr Netanyahu, 55, served as Israel's Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999. As Prime Minister, he negotiated during the 1998 Wye Accords with the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on handing over some West Bank land to Palestinians.
The departure of Ariel Sharon's main rival was a political bombshell that increased tension amid already intense security concerns in advance of the evacuation.
At today's cabinet meeting, the Israeli Government gave the final go ahead for the removal of the first group of settlers.
The evacuation of all 8,000 settlers living in Gaza's 21 settlements as well as the pullout of all Israeli troops from the territory is set to begin in ten days time.
Mr Netanyahu - Sharon's main rival for the leadership of their right-wing Likud party - had made no secret of his opposition to Israel's first ever withdrawal from occupied Palestinian land.
