Sharon and rival unite over Gaza pullout

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reached a deal with Shimon Peres yesterday to name the opposition leader his senior deputy, clearing a key obstacle to a Government unified to abandoning the occupied Gaza Strip.

Bloodshed has not ebbed in Gaza, where Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians in a raid, despite new peace hopes after Yasser Arafat's death, and expectations that moderate Mahmoud Abbas will win Palestinian elections this month.

Most Israelis want to quit Gaza, and right-winger Sharon has been negotiating with centre-left Labour opponents for a unity Government able to uproot settlers from the Palestinian territory and a small chunk of the West Bank.

To end legal wrangling over titles, Sharon and Peres agreed that the Labour leader and Nobel peace laureate would be the most senior "deputy to the Prime Minister" in the new coalition.

But the ruling Likud's Ehud Olmert would keep his position as the real next in line to Sharon with the title of "acting Prime Minister", standing in when necessary and taking over if Sharon dies, officials in Sharon's office said.

"The green light has been given for putting together a Government," said Michael Eitan, chairman of the parliamentary committee that would otherwise have needed to discuss amending the law.

Israeli commentators said a Government could be named as early as Monday.

Sharon's plan is to evacuate 8000 settlers living among 1.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Four of 120 West Bank settlements, also captured in that war, would go.

But Palestinians fear Sharon's "Disengagement Plan", backed by Western countries, will give them Gaza at the cost of a stronger Israeli hold on the West Bank.

The nine Palestinians killed included two teenagers, as tanks pushed into the southern Gaza Strip in what the Army called a raid to stop mortar and rocket attacks on Jewish settlements.

Israeli troops staged two strikes on the city of Khan Younis, firing missiles that killed seven militants, four from Abbas' Fatah movement, and others belonging to the Islamic Hamas militant group, Palestinians said.

The Army said three of the dead were part of a squad firing at nearby settlements.

"I estimate there are 10 to 15 squads," Brigadier Aviv Kochavi, commander of forces in Gaza, told Army Radio.

After the raid, medics and witnesses said Israeli soldiers killed two 17-year-olds, including one with Down syndrome, watching clashes. The Army said soldiers fired at men thought to be laying explosives.

Later Israel reinforced its troops in Khan Younis and brought in more armoured vehicles before another missile fired killed four militants. A military spokesman said an aircraft fired at and hit men planting an explosive device.

At least 19 Palestinians were wounded in Khan Younis, witnesses said.

Israel said an Israeli woman was hurt by a mortar fired at a settlement.

Further south, Israeli troops shot and critically wounded two Palestinians after they fired a rocket at an Army vehicle.

Despite scores of raids during a four-year-old Palestinian uprising, mortar fire has persisted and even intensified ahead of the Israeli plan to remove the 8000 settlers.

Militants hope to portray any Israeli withdrawal as a retreat under fire, while Israel wants to smash them first.

Abbas wants Palestinians to stop armed struggle and use peaceful means of resistance, but Hamas has rejected his call.

"The enemy knows nothing but the language of killing Palestinians, and therefore we have no choice but to continue the resistance," a Hamas spokesman said.

Condemning the Israeli raids, Palestinian officials said they undermined preparations for the elections to pick a successor to Arafat, despite Israeli promises to help ensure they go smoothly.

"We urge the international community to immediately intervene to enable us to hold a free and a fair election," Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.

Militant attacks also pose a challenge to Abbas, who is widely expected to win the election and has called for an end to armed struggle in a four-year-long uprising.

Gunmen hoisted him on their shoulders during a campaign stop in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Abbas made no direct mention of non-violence and reiterated that he would follow Arafat's path to peace and statehood.

- REUTERS