Israel says thousands of settlers may be moved

Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers might have to move if a peace plan fails and Israel starts unilateral measures to separate from the Palestinians, a top government official said yesterday.

Settlers are outraged at a plan set out by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, their champion for decades, to move some settlements for security reasons but hold onto chunks of occupied territory where Palestinians seek a state.

Underscoring more than three years of bloodshed, Palestinian medics said a six-year-old boy was shot dead during clashes between Israeli troops and stone-throwers in the West Bank city of Nablus. A top militant was arrested there earlier.

Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was committed to a US-backed peace "road map", but if that failed, then steps would be taken that involved moving settlers and the number would probably be "in the tens of thousands".

"I don't think I am ready to go into specific numbers but there will be a considerable number of Jewish inhabitants in the territories who will have to move and a considerable number of settlements," Mr Olmert said.

There are at least 230,000 settlers among 3.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinians see the settlements as the main obstacle to a viable state, but they also oppose Israel's "Disengagement Plan" - under which Sharon has said they would get less land than they might through talks.

The settlements are viewed as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

Officials from both sides said more high-level discussions were due midweek to prepare the ground for a meeting between Mr Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurie.

A meeting between the premiers is widely seen as essential for pushing forward with the road map, which is meant to give the Palestinians a state by 2005 on land that Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war.

Mr Qurie has said he would only meet Mr Sharon if work halted on the giant barrier Israel is building through the West Bank. Israelis say they need it to keep out suicide bombers, but Palestinians call it a land grab.

Mr Sharon said last week that work would be speeded up on the concrete and wire barrier, despite concerns from his main US ally over a planned route cutting deep into the West Bank.

Israel has demanded that Palestinians crack down on militants as a road map commitment, while Mr Sharon has said Israel would meet its part of the deal by freezing settlement growth, removing outposts and easing restrictions on Palestinians.