OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 7 February 2004 — Jewish settlers in Gaza, who face evacuation under Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan, may be moved to the West Bank, his office said yesterday.
“It is one of the options being considered,” an official in Sharon’s office said.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat immediately condemned any move to relocate Gaza settlers to the West Bank, demanding the removal of all settlements from the occupied territories.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that in a visit to Washington expected later this month or in March, Sharon would seek US approval to expand West Bank settlement blocs that Israel might annex in a future peace deal with the Palestinians. It said the prime minister — a longtime champion of settlement building on occupied land — would justify the request by explaining that West Bank enclaves would have to be expanded to accommodate some of the 7,500 Gaza settlers.
Sharon has proposed removing 17 of the 21 Gaza settlements and has said several would also have to go in the West Bank if he carries out his threat to separate from the Palestinians and draw a “security line” should a US-backed peace plan fail.
He has made clear that any unilateral Israeli move would leave the Palestinians with less land than they are seeking for a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
“Settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to peace as much as the ones in Gaza Strip. They all must go,” Erekat said. “The mere suggestion of trade-off between settlements in Gaza and the West Bank should be rejected by the Americans.”
The deputy prime minister, Ehud Olmert, briefed US officials during a lightning trip to the United States about Sharon’s plans. “I came out of my meetings reassured that the United States is not opposed to unilateral measures,” Olmert said after meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday.
