Sharon Backs Total Withdrawal From Gaza Strip

The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is backing a total withdrawal of Israeli settlers and soldiers from the Palestinian Gaza Strip, according to a well-placed Israeli source.

Mr Sharon announced the unilateral pull-out last December, but debate has raged among Israeli ministers about how far Israel should go.

The source said there were four options: to keep some settlements in the north of Gaza; to evacuate all the Gaza settlements but keep a 100 metre strip of land along the border between Israel and Gaza at Rafah; to pull out the settlers but leave the Israeli army in place; or to pull out all Israeli civilians and military.

The source said that for Mr Sharon the fourth option was the most likely, even though this would leave him at odds with some members of his cabinet. The Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, last month refused to rule out the possibility of withdrawing settlers from the Gaza Strip but leaving Israeli troops there.

The Israeli foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Silvan Shalom, is to discuss the pull-out with Tony Blair and the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, at Downing Street today. Mr Shalom is among those who have been resisting full withdrawal.

A decision in principle is expected to be taken after a proposed meeting between Mr Sharon and George Bush in Washington at the end of this month or early next month.

An Israeli referendum on the issue is tentatively planned for the spring, to be followed by a vote in the Knesset and a cabinet meeting in June or July. The expectation is that the referendum and Knesset vote will be overwhelmingly in favour of withdrawal, but that the cabinet meeting will be fraught.

The source said the settlers could be withdrawn by the end of this year or early next.

The Israelis are talking to the Egyptian government about the Gaza-Egyptian border crossing at Rafah. The Israeli government, which has army outposts along the border, is reluctant to cede control unless the Egyptian government guarantees no smuggling of weapons to the Palestinians.

The US administration, after expressing initial hostility to a unilateral Israeli withdrawal, has gradually come round to the idea, but has set various conditions. The US, noting that in principle it is not opposed to the withdrawal of settlements, wants this to be seen as part of the "road map", the international community's proposed peace plan. It also wants an Israeli pledge that the Gaza settlers will not be rehoused on the Palestinian West Bank, and that there will be no annexation of land in the West Bank as compensation.

The US, like the European Union, has said it will not pay the costs of the Gaza withdrawal. The Israeli government hopes that it can persuade one or the other to foot all or part of the bill.