Israel is considering moving settlers slated for evacuation from Gaza to expanded West Bank enclaves despite US objections to the Jewish state cementing a hold on occupied land, security sources said yesterday.
The daily Maariv said Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered plans drawn up for hundreds of new homes at the Gush Etzion bloc for use by 7,500 Gaza settlers who are to be evacuated under a plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians.
Mofaz's office did not immediately comment on the report. A senior Israeli security source confirmed the Gush Etzion idea was "being studied," but said it had not yet received approval.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Tightening its West Bank grip as part of the Gaza pullback scheduled for next year might put Israel at odds with key ally the US, whose "road map" peace plan, now tattered by three-and-a-half years of fighting, seeks a freeze on settlement building.
But that provision of the plan has been called into question by US President George W. Bush's unprecedented assurance to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in April that Israel could keep some West Bank land where some major settlement blocs lie.
"The US administration supports the road map," a US official said in response to the Maariv report. "Exactly what constitutes a settlement freeze is a matter of discussion."
The Palestinians, who want the West Bank along with Gaza -- occupied by Israel since 1967 -- for a viable independent state envisaged by the road map, cried foul.
"The whole idea was to turn a Gaza withdrawal into an opportunity [for peace]," Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said. "If Mr. Mofaz takes settlers from Gaza to the West Bank, that would kill the idea."
On Monday, Israel issued orders to confiscate further tracts of West Bank land for a new segment of a barrier it says keeps out suicide bombers. Palestinians accuse Sharon of carving up the West Bank for eventual annexations by Israel.
Israel killed two wanted Palestinian militants in a West Bank air strike on Monday, hours after taking steps to ease movement of Palestinian inhabitants there -- something the US has long demanded.
The latest West Bank actions drew censure from Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres, whose Labor Party could join Sharon's ruling Likud in a broad coalition that would bolster him against ultra-rightists in his camp opposed to withdrawals.
"While busying themselves with just talking about Gaza, they [the Sharon government] are busy taking action in Judea and Samaria [West Bank]," Peres told Israel Radio. "I'm talking about the construction, expansion, statements and [intended] annexations."
"The current government under Likud committed itself to the road map," Peres added. "So what do we want? How much can the people of Israel be confused?"
On Monday, Labor sat out no-confidence motions that Sharon, stripped of his parliamentary majority by recent right-wing rebellions, might otherwise have not survived. "We do not want to be those who ruin the disengagement plan," Peres said.
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