Palestinian minister says Israel seeking to trade Gaza for Jerusalem

CAIRO, April 20 (AFP) -

A Palestinian minister charged Wednesday that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip was a ploy to tighten its grip on Jerusalem and increase settlement activity elsewhere in the occupied territories. The pullout "is a way to exchange Gaza for Jerusalem and (continue) settlement activity which makes the attainment of peace in the future impossible," public works and housing minister Mohammed Shtayyeh told Egypt-based pan-Arab Sawt al-Arab radio.

Israel contends that Jerusalem is its undivided and eternal capital while Palestinians want to have the capital of a future independent state in the holy city's eastern Arab sector. Palestinians were infuriated by Israel's decision Monday to invite bids to build 50 new homes in the West Bank religious settlement of Elkana. The move, which stands in clear contravention of the internationally-drafted roadmap Middle East peace plan, prompted Washington to ask clarifications from Israel.

All 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and some 8,000 settlers are due to be evacuated this summer in addition to a few hundred in the northern West Bank. But the 220,000 settlers in the West Bank will not be affected by the pullout. Speaking from the West Bank town of Ramallah, Shtayyeh said a possible postponement of the Gaza pullout being mulled by Israel "affects the already shaky trust between Israel and the Palestinian."

Sharon has indicated he was in favor of a three-week postponement of the pullout until mid-August so that it does not clash with a mourning period in memory of the destruction of the Jewish Temple in AD 70. sc/jmm/txw