well as industrial buildings, factories, and greenhouses which could not be taken apart were left intact. Originally, the Israeli cabinet had planned to destroy synagogues in the settlement, but the government caved in to pressure from religious Jewish organizations and reversed its decision. However, most of the synagogues were destroyed by Palestinian mobs immediately after the evacuation. Abu Abir, a member of the Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization, commented that "The looting and burning of the synagogues was a great joy...It was in an unplanned expression of happiness that these synagogues were destroyed." Later, in 2007, it was reported that "The ruins of two large synagogues in Gush Katif, the evacuated Jewish communities of the Gaza Strip, have been transformed into a military base used by Palestinian groups to fire rockets at Israeli cities and train for attacks against the Jewish state, according to a senior terror leader in Gaza." Aftermath Controversy in Israel The action proved controversial inside Israel. The settlers, backed by the right-wing, as shown in the Likud referendum, claimed Israel had a historic right to the land and that they provided an important defense buffer against attacks by Palestinians. The conservative government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon argued that remaining in Gaza was too costly in both money and lives. Sharon's withdrawal did not advance the peace process because, from the Palestinian perspective, the unilateral pullout took place without negotiation on wider issues affecting both sides. NPR addressed this issue in a Q&A about Israel's pullout from Gaza. History after Israeli withdrawal After the Israeli withdrawal of settlers, the Palestinian Authority took control of Gaza. On January 25, 2006, Hamas won parliamentary elections in both Gaza and the West Bank. Israel, the U.S. and a number of European governments refused to recognize Hamas’ election victory and imposed an economic blockade on Gaza. During June 2007, an internal civil conflict between Hamas and Fatah resulted in Hamas taking control of the Gaza Strip, while Fatah ruled the West Bank. In May 2011 both parties agreed to reconstitute a united Palestinian government and hold elections by May 2012. In July 2014 Israel experienced the effects of the disengagement and Hamas coming to power which resulted in Operation Protective Edge as Israel sought to protect its residents from the barrage of rockets fired from Gaza; destroyed a network of tunnels aimed at Israel's southern communities; and targeted Hamas bases