Sharon threatens to form new government

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed to form a new government if his coalition partners try to block his plan to evacuate almost all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Sharon's comments to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper followed his published announcement yesterday of a settlement evacuation strategy, after which he won a confidence vote in Parliament by just a single vote when hard-right allies staged a walkout.

"I will not hesitate to set up another government," he told Israel's largest daily. "Not that I am rushing to take such a step, but I have no intention of being at the mercy of factions ... that won't permit me to handle matters of state."

Sharon's announcement that he planned to evacuate most of the settlements stunned friends and foes.

"I have given the order to plan for the evacuation of 17 settlements in the Gaza Strip," he said. "I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza."

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 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.

Palestinian Cabinet member Saeb Erekat said: "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 United States-backed roadmap to peace.

Israeli troops killed four Palestinian militants in a battle in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

And security sources said a commander of the Hamas faction, behind a suicide bombing that killed 11 in Jerusalem last week, had died in a 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 newspaper's website. His plan entails removal of all but two or three Jewish enclaves in the 360sq km coastal strip, where more than 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.

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

Sharon said his plan "has to be done with American agreement and support. We are talking of a population of 7500 people. We are talking of thousands of square km of hothouses, factories and packing plants.

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

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".

The settlements

* 7000 to 8000 Israelis live in 20 fortified settlements among 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza, a coastal strip of 360sq km.

* Palestinians want all West Bank and Gaza settlements removed to make way for a Palestinian state in a final accord.

* A longtime champion of Jewish settlements, Sharon made a turnaround last year under pressure to implement a US-led peace roadmap.

* Palestinians accuse Israel of continued land appropriations for West Bank and Gaza settlements.

* Israel defends these as necessary to clear areas used by militants to mount attacks in an uprising that began in 2000.

- REUTERS