Sharon pleads for support in Gaza vote

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told parliament yesterday he is determined to press ahead with his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

He also said that he remains open to peace talks with the Palestinians after their violent uprising ends.

In a speech repeatedly interrupted by heckling, Mr Sharon appealed to MPs to vote for his “unilateral disengagement” plan tomorrow after four years of violent conflict with the Palestinians.

Mr Sharon hopes parliament will give his plan, which would mark the first time Israel has ever pulled down Jewish settlements in the West Bank or Gaza, strong approval to blunt hard-line demands for a national referendum.

Mr Sharon dismisses those demands as a ploy to delay implementation of the plan.

“The disengagement plan does not come in place of negotiations,” Mr Sharon told parliament in Jerusalem.

“It is a necessary step during a period in which negotiations are not possible. All is open when terror - this murderous terror - stops.”

Palestinians view the plan with scepticism and worry that Mr Sharon hopes to use the limited withdrawal to blunt international criticism of Israel and strengthen its hold over large parts of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands the Palestinians claim for a state.

Mr Sharon also appealed for support from the Israeli public, which polls show strongly support his plan.

“I call on the people of Israel to unite in this fateful moment, to allow us to erect a dam against the hatred among us,” he said.

The plan has divided his own Likud Party, with nearly half its 40 MPs saying they will vote against it.

Mr Sharon will need to rely on opposition support.

Regardless, Mr Sharon’s allies say he should get at least 65 votes - and possibly as many as 70 - in the 120 member Knesset, with fewer than 48 MPs voting against the plan.

The programme is a sharp reversal for Mr Sharon, who was once the settlers’ top patron in the government, and he said he had not made this decision, which will remove 8,800 settlers from their homes, lightly.

“I know what the consequences are for thousands of Israelis who have lived for many years in Gaza, and were sent there by Israeli governments, and had children there, who didn’t know another home,” he said. “I know, I sent them, I was a participant, and many are my personal friends. I am aware of their pain, their anger, their despair.”

“We have to do this, despite all the suffering involved,” Mr Sharon said.

“This will decrease hostility and will lead us forward on the path to peace with the Palestinians.” Earlier yesterday, Israeli armoured vehicles moved into the Khan Younis refugee camp in southern Gaza in an operation the army said was sparked by recent mortar attacks on nearby Israeli settlements.

The raid killed 13 Palestinians and wounded 66, doctors said. Among the dead were members of the Palestinian security forces and an 11-year-old boy.

Seventeen of the wounded were under the age of 18.

The army said it destroyed the home of a local Hamas leader who was responsible for attacks on Israelis.