Israeli MPs approve withdrawal from Gaza

ISRAELI MPs last night approved Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan, clearing the way for a withdrawal of Jewish settlers from Palestinian territory for the first time.

Sharon won the backing for his so-called disengagement plan of around 66 members of the 120-seat parliament, or Knesset, where massive security, including thousands of police and water cannon, was in place for the vote.

However, victory came only thanks to support from the left-wing opposition Labour and Yahad parties, with nearly half the MPs from Sharon's right-wing Likud party voting against the premier.

The prospect of a withdrawal has failed to halt the bloodshed in Gaza, where two more Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops yesterday.

Sharon, once the ultimate champion of the settlers, made an impassioned defence of his plan in a stormy debate in parliament on Monday.

"I have decided to go right through to the end with this separation. I am convinced this separation will strengthen Israel," Sharon told MPs at the start of the two-day debate.

Under the plan, all 8,000 Jewish settlers will leave next year from Gaza, captured by Israel from Egypt during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Several hundred residents of four small Jewish enclaves in the northern West Bank will also be uprooted.

By relieving some of the international pressure on Israel, Sharon hopes in turn to cement control over large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

The plan has been bitterly opposed by the prime minister's former allies and the 240,000 settlers who live in the occupied territories.

While Israel's 1982 evacuation of settlements in the Sinai yielded the prize of a peace deal with Egypt, opponents of disengagement say there are no such benefits to be reaped from leaving Gaza unilaterally and fear it will hand control on a plate to armed Palestinian factions.

"By leaving Gaza, we are running away from the terrorists," Likud MP and ex-foreign minister David Levy told parliament.

"When we had an agreement with Egypt, Sadat came here so we could exchange territory for peace, but this time there is absolutely nothing on the table."

The plan has the support of the US administration of President George W Bush Israel's closest ally.

But Palestinians harbour deep suspicions, fearing Sharon wants to block a more comprehensive pullout from the West Bank which should form the lion's share of their future state.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said his government did not want to become embroiled in the intricacies of Israeli politics. "We are not getting involved in an internal Israeli issue," he told reporters.

An opinion poll yesterday found that 65% of Israelis favour the pull-out.