Gaza strip to be evacuated

JERUSALEM -- Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his stunned Likud Party Monday he plans to dismantle the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, participants in the meeting said.\nSharon spoke to Likud lawmakers just hours after telling the Haaretz daily he has "given an order to plan for the evacuation" of the 17 Gaza settlements, which are home to about 7,500 Israelis.\n"I don't know if it will be done in one go, or gradually, but over the course of time, it will not be right to continue Jewish settlement in Gaza," a Likud official quoted Sharon as telling the legislators. Sharon referred to Jewish settlement in Gaza as "a security burden and a source of continuous friction," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.\nSharon has said recently he would take unilateral steps, including removing some settlements and imposing a boundary on the Palestinians, if there is no progress in stalled peace efforts by summer.\nIn the Gaza refugee camp of Rafah, Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian militants in an intense gun battle.\nSharon's plan was met by widespread skepticism in Israel and the Palestinian areas. Moderate and ultra-nationalist Israeli legislators alike said they found it difficult to believe Sharon, a patron of the Jewish settlement movement for years, would take action against a core constituency and risk the fall of his center-right coalition. Some suggested Sharon was trying to deflect attention from corruption investigations of him.\nPalestinian leader Yasser Arafat also expressed disbelief. "Seventeen trailers (settlements)? What, so they can replace them with another 170?" he said.\nSharon told Likud legislators his "disengagement program" from the Palestinians is not yet complete. He said he has asked Israel's National Security Council to "examine options and to begin with the Gaza Strip," according to the Likud official.\nThe prime minister said he would seek the approval of parliament and would also consult with President Bush, participants in the meeting said.\nSharon's coalition controls 68 seats in the 120-member parliaments. Political analyst Hanan Crystal said 13 legislators from two far-right parties -- the National Union and the National Religious Party -- would bolt if Sharon moves to evacuate settlements, bringing down the government and possibly forcing snap elections.\nThe opposition Labor Party could save Sharon from an election, but may not do so because of the ongoing police investigation of him, Crystal said.\nThe pro-settler NRP threatened Monday to quit the government. The party "cannot be participating with a Cabinet that is destroying the settlements," said NRP member Shaul Yahalom. An umbrella group representing Gaza settlements also said it would try to topple the Sharon administration.\nSaid Siyam, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said "such a withdrawal, if it happens, will be as a result of the resistance," a reference to Hamas attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers.\nSharon did not tell Haaretz when the dismantling would begin, but suggested it could take some time. "It's not a simple matter," Sharon was quoted as saying.\n"We are talking of thousands of square kilometers of hothouses, factories and packing plants. People there who are third-generation. The first thing is to ask their agreement, to reach an agreement with the residents," he said. "It's not a quick matter, especially if it's done under fire."\nThe army said troops came under fire at the Rafah refugee camp as they attempted to arrest the militia leader, Yasser Abu Ayish, at his home and returned fire. The army confirmed three gunmen had been killed, while one soldier was lightly injured.\nPalestinian witnesses said four people, including Abu Ayish, his brother and militants from Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, were killed. One side of Abu Ayish's home was destroyed. Abu Ayish's legs and arm were blown off last year when a rocket he was building exploded prematurely.\nAbu Ayish was the leader of the Islamic Jihad military wing in the Rafah area, and was mainly involved in building rockets. He was high on Israel's wanted list.\nLater Monday, the army entered the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem for what military sources called a "pinpoint" operation aimed at a Hamas militant. A Palestinian suicide bomber who killed 11 people in Jerusalem last week had come from the camp.\nThe army said it had come under fire when it approached the activist's house and fired back, killing him. Israeli rescue workers said four soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously.\nThe Israeli operations came a day after soldiers carried out a similar raid in the West Bank town of Jericho. One militant was killed.\nDavid Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, described the raids as pre-emptive "search and arrest" operations.\nSenior Israeli and Palestinian officials, meanwhile, are scheduled to meet Wednesday in hopes of bringing their prime ministers together for a summit, a senior Palestinian official said.\nA summit between Sharon and Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qureia would be a key step toward resuming long-stalled peace talks. The two have not met since Qureia took office in October.