Sharon foresees Gaza without Jews

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is planning to dismantle 17 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, it was reported today.

Sharon, a major patron of the settlement movement throughout his political career, did not give a timetable, but his remarks appeared to be the most specific yet on the removal of settlements in the Gaza Strip.

The Haaretz newspaper said Sharon was likely to go public with his plans later today – he was due to address MPs from his Likud Party in the afternoon.

Haaretz columnist Yoel Marcus said Sharon told him in an interview that “it is my intention to carry out an evacuation – sorry, a relocation – of settlements that cause us problems and of places that we will not hold onto anyway in a final settlement, like the Gaza settlements.”

“We are talking of a population of 7,500 people (in the Gaza settlements),” Haaretz quoted Sharon as saying. There are 17 settlements in Gaza.

Sharon did not say when the dismantling would begin, but suggested it could take some time.

The prime minister has said in the past that Israel would take unilateral steps, including removing settlements and imposing a boundary on the Palestinians, if there is no progress in peace efforts by the summer.

“It’s not a simple matter,” Sharon was quoted as saying about the possible removal of Gaza settlements.

“We are talking of thousands of square kilometres 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.

"To move thousands of acres of hothouses, educational institutions, thousands and thousands of vehicles, it’s not a quick matter, especially if it’s done under fire,” Sharon said.

“I am working on the assumption that in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza,” Sharon added.