JERUSALEM — Israel’s unilateral "disengagement" plan is a serious blow to the Palestinians and could put a Palestinian state on hold for many years, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in interviews yesterday, defending himself against attack from Israeli hard-liners.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli troops killed three Palestinians, ages 18 and 19, near the border fence with Israel. The army said troops fired on three suspicious figures during the night.
Israeli security forces, meanwhile, were on high alert for possible attacks by Palestinian militants during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover, which began at sundown yesterday. Police urged all licensed gun owners to carry their weapons during the holiday and security forces deployed reinforcements at synagogues and malls.
Israel also maintained a tight closure of the West Bank and Gaza, barring all Palestinians from entering Israel. Israeli officials said the closure, imposed after Israel’s assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in an airstrike March 22, would remain in effect at least until April 27, Israel’s independence day.
Sharon gave wideranging interviews to Israeli dailies and radio stations yesterday, a Passover tradition.
The prime minister has come under growing attack from Israeli hard-liners who accuse him of rewarding Palestinians by proposing to withdraw from Gaza and four West Bank settlements.
In interviews with the Maariv, Yediot Aharonot and Haaretz dailies, Sharon defended the plan, saying it serves Israel’s interest, not that of the Palestinians.
"The Palestinians understand that this plan is to a large extent the end of their dreams, a very heavy blow to them," he told Haaretz.
"In the unilateral plan, there is no Palestinian state. This situation could continue for many years," Sharon told Yediot.
Sharon has said repeatedly that the Palestinians would receive more land in a negotiated settlement. However, he insists he does not have a Palestinian partner, accusing Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei of not confronting militants.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said yesterday he welcomes an Israeli withdrawal, but only as a first step. "He (Sharon) has to remember that he has to withdraw also ... from the West Bank," Arafat told reporters at this West Bank headquarters in the town of Ramallah.
Palestinians say the withdrawal plan is an Israeli ruse to trade Gaza for a permanent hold over most of the West Bank. They say a withdrawal must be coordinated as part of the US-backed road map peace plan, which envisions a Palestinian state by next year.
The prime minister said he plans to evacuate all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank. He said a patrol road between the Gaza Strip and Egypt would remain under Israeli control for the time being.
Sharon said he would seal off Gaza after a withdrawal, at least initially.
"Until we see what happens, we will continue to have control of an envelope around Gaza," Sharon told Maariv. "The contacts between us (Israel and Gaza) will be like between two countries, selling and buying, but we won’t have control over what happens inside."
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