ISRAEL: The Palestinians' dream of an independent state could be dashed for many years to come, but Israel could be in the midst of a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip by this time next year, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in interviews published yesterday on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
In Gaza, meanwhile, the bodies of three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli soldiers were found near the isolated settlement of Netzarim. In Israel, security forces were on high alert yesterday, with the defence minister warning that the radical Hamas group was planning attacks over the weeklong holiday, which began at sundown.
"In the unilateral plan, there is no Palestinian state. This situation could continue for many years," Mr Sharon told the daily Yediot Ahronoth, referring to his plan to pull out of Gaza without an agreement with the Palestinians.
He told the daily Haaretz that his "disengagement" plan - it includes the removal of all settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank - would be a serious blow to Palestinian aspirations and said that the Palestinian people would have to shelve their dream of statehood until a new leadership emerged which was willing to end the violence.
The remarks will strengthen Palestinian fears that Mr Sharon's plan is meant to rob them of an independent state by trading a withdrawal from Gaza for ultimate Israeli control of large swathes of the West Bank.
Responding to Mr Sharon's comments, the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, said that the prime minister must remember that he had to "withdraw also . . . from the West Bank". Despite their reservations, the Palestinians have hesitantly welcomed a Gaza pull-out, but they say that it must be co-ordinated with them and implemented as part of the "road map" peace plan. For the first time, Mr Sharon spoke of a timetable for a Gaza pull-out, telling the daily Maariv that by this time next year he hoped to be "in the midst of the disengagement".
In a preview of the interviews, published last Friday, Mr Sharon said that Mr Arafat and the new leader of Hizbullah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, were not immune from being targeted by Israel.
However, the US reminded him that it was opposed to the harming of Mr Arafat. Israeli commentators suggested that the tough talk was really aimed at mollifying right-wing members within Mr Sharon's ruling coalition who oppose territorial compromise.