On May 2nd 2004, voters in Israel's Likud party rejected the Bush/Sharon plan to remove settlements from Gaza. The Gaza strip is only 360 sq km but contains around 1.5 million Palestinians making it one of the most densely inhabited pieces of land on earth. Jewish settlements in Gaza started after the 1967 war but most settlements were build in the 1980s. There are currently around 8000 Israeli settlers in Gaza. The Jewish settlers live separately from the Palestinians and are surrounded by a security parameter and thousands of IDF troops whose sole purpose is to protect the settlements. While ending settlements in Gaza, the Bush/Sharon plan legitimized long-term settlements in the West Bank and was seen by many as making a Palestinian state impossible due to the need for access roads and IDF troops guarding the settlements. In recent weeks, evidence has emerged that even illegal settlements in the West Bank have been receiving millions from the Israeli government.