Middle East: Relocating Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip settlements to large settlement blocs in the West Bank which Israel hopes to annex is an option being weighed by Mr Ariel Sharon, a spokesman said.
"We are doing checks, including that the (Gaza) settlers will be evacuated to the settlements that will certainly remain with us under a final status agreement, such as Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel and Gush Etzion," Mr Assaf Shariv, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, said yesterday.
Ma'aleh Adumim and Ariel are the two largest settlements in the West Bank, while Gush Etzion is a large settlement bloc south of Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, Mr Sharon said he had given orders to draw up a plan for the evacuation of most of the Gaza settlements, as part of his "disengagement" plan. It would see Israel taking a series of unilateral measures, including drawing a boundary in the West Bank, to separate from the Palestinians.
Mr Shariv said the details of the plan would be completed within three months.
He also confirmed that two US envoys would be in the region soon to discuss the plan with Mr Sharon.
The prime minister, in turn, is expected to be in the US within a few weeks, where he will present his "disengagement" ideas to the Bush administration.
Mr Sharon reportedly wants to convince the Americans to allow him to expand large settlement blocs in the West Bank in exchange for the Gaza withdrawal.
Palestinian leaders yesterday criticised the notion of shifting Gaza settlers to the West Bank.
"The relocation of settlers is totally unacceptable," the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Korei, said yesterday.
"The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are an integral part of our homeland and we will not give up even one centimetre of our homeland."