Israel may give up more West Bank lands

But he reiterated that Israel would keep major settlement blocs in any peace deal.

The Israeli Defence Ministry, meanwhile, wants to complete the withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank already by Sept. 4, rather than in mid-September, the original target date, security officials said. The forcible removal of settlers from their homes there is to begin next week.

The deadline was moved up even as military sources raised to 3,000 the number of people they estimate have entered Gaza settlements to bolster resistance.

"The settlement blocs will remain" in Israeli hands, Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper, reiterating his oft-stated policy. "I never replied when asked what the boundaries of the settlements blocs are and not because I'm not familiar with the map.

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Asked whether Israel would eventually pull out of several small West Bank settlements, he replied: "Not everything will be there. The issue will be raised during the final status talks with the Palestinians."

When Sharon decided more than a year ago to quit Gaza, captured 38 years ago, he reasoned that would make it easier for Israel to hold on to the major West Bank settlement blocs, where most of the 240,000 settlers live.

Meanwhile many Palestinians believe Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout from Gaza is little more than a ploy to divert attention from the strengthening of settlements in the West Bank and around Jerusalem.

"Sharon's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip is a smokescreen, because he is consolidating settlement activity in the West Bank and completely modifying the demographic and cultural make-up of Jerusalem," said independent Palestinian MP Hanan Ashrawi.

She argued, like many observers and much of Palestinian public opinion, that leaving Gaza is a small price to pay for Israel if it entails a free hand to tighten its grip on the rest of the occupied territories.