Sharon says Gaza settlements will go

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stunned friends and foes yesterday by saying he planned to evacuate almost all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

"I have given the order to plan for the evacuation of 17 settlements in the Gaza Strip," the right-wing prime minister told the Haaretz newspaper. "I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza."

Sharon, once considered the godfather of the settlement movement, later told his pro-settler Likud party the proposal he will take to Washington later this month would also call for the removal of a smaller number of Jewish enclaves in the West Bank.

But he gave no time frame. A senior government source said it would happen if talks with the Palestinians hit a dead end.

It was the first time Sharon had revealed plans for such a far-reaching withdrawal from territories Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war. There was outrage from settler leaders and parts of his own party, and scepticism from the Palestinians, for whom settlements are one of the biggest obstacles to peace.

"I am in shock," Likud legislator Yehiel Hazan said. Some members of Sharon's coalition said it could collapse if he went ahead with the plan. Palestinians were sceptical.

Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat told Reuters: "Usually when the Israeli government speaks about evacuation of settlements, it aims only at public relations... If Israel wants to leave Gaza... no Palestinian will stand in its way."

A surge in violence over the past week has cast further doubt on the prospects of a US-backed "road map" to peace.

Israeli troops killed four Palestinian militants in a battle in the Gaza Strip yesterday. Security sources said a commander of the Hamas faction, behind a suicide bombing that killed 11 in Jerusalem last week, had died in an shootout in Bethlehem.

Despite the bloodshed, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said preparations were under way for his first meeting with Sharon since he took office in November.

Shortly after Qurie spoke, Sharon's words appeared on the Haaretz Web site. His plan entails removal of all but two or three Jewish enclaves in the 360-sq-km (139-sq-mile) coastal strip, where over a million Palestinians live in poverty beside a few thousand settlers who control 21 per cent of the land.

Opinion polls show a large majority of Israelis willing to part with Gaza settlements. They have no strategic value, require a heavy military presence to protect them and have little of the biblical significance that draws Jews to settle in the West Bank, site of more than 120 enclaves.

Instead, Gaza's settlers are attracted by a quality of life built around tight-knit communities and pristine beaches.

"The prime minister intends to go to Washington with an offer of removing large chunks of settlements in Gaza and a smaller chunk in (the West Bank)," Likud legislator Michael Eitan told reporters after Sharon addressed a party meeting.

In excerpts from the interview, Sharon said his plan "has to be done with American agreement and support".

"We are talking of a population of 7,500 people. It's not a simple matter. We are talking of thousands of square km (miles) of hothouses, factories and packing plants," he said.

"The first thing is to ask their agreement, to reach an agreement with the residents... it's not a quick matter, especially if it's done under fire," he added.

A Gaza settler spokesman called Sharon's comments "miserable" and vowed that the nationalist camp would work "to cut short Sharon's term as prime minister through legal means".