Gaza settlers' homes to be razed - Rice

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed that Jewish settler homes in Gaza will be destroyed when Israel pulls out of the territory, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday.

Ms Rice, visiting Israel and the West Bank, said Israel and the Palestinian Authority had also agreed to cooperate to ensure the withdrawal would proceed peacefully, hailing it as a historic step towards resolving the Middle East conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, however, again ruled out progress along a US-backed peace "road map" leading to the creation of a Palestinian state unless the Palestinian Authority disarmed and dismantled militant groups.

In the Gaza Strip, an Israeli soldier was killed and two others wounded in an attack by Palestinian gunmen on troops and civilian contractors along the border with Egypt, the Israeli army said. One of the attackers was shot dead.

"Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree that the settler homes in Gaza should be removed," Ms Rice told a news conference after meeting Mr Sharon. "Therefore the parties will work towards a plan for destruction and clean-up."

It was the first tangible deal to emerge from weeks of fitful talks on how to ensure an orderly transition in Gaza. Palestinian officials have said they prefer the tile-roofed homes, built on occupied land in 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza, be demolished so that high-rise housing can be built in the crowded coastal strip, home to 1.3 million Palestinians.

"It was their choice. If they wanted them, they could have had them," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Palestinian officials said rubble from the settlements, whose evacuation is due to begin in mid-August, could eventually be used to build a seaport for Gaza.

An Israeli official said it would take three to four weeks to complete the pull-out and troops would then immediately raze the houses. He said the Palestinians had agreed to clear the debris in a project that would generate jobs in Gaza.

Israel had been loath to have soldiers remove the rubble, fearing this could prolong their presence in Gaza by months and expose them to militant attacks.

During Ms Rice's two-day visit, which included talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, she called on both sides to agree on specifics about how to carry out the withdrawal, saying time was running out. Israel fears that Palestinian militants could fill a power vacuum in Gaza after the pull-out unless Palestinian security forces take over from the withdrawing Israeli troops.

At the news conference, Ms Rice said Israel and the Palestinian Authority recognised the withdrawal "must proceed peacefully and without violence" directed towards settlers and soldiers.

"Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will take the necessary actions and coordinate such actions where appropriate to ensure a peaceful disengagement and economic viability and hope for the Palestinian people," she said, without elaborating.