ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 14 - Sharon Gives Timeline For Gaza Withdrawal.

Ariel Sharon says he wanted to begin withdrawing Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip in May or June and to complete the pullout within three months. Sharon's comments at a closed session of Parliament's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee marked the most specific target date he has given for the Gaza evacuation. Israeli news organisations reported the remarks, which were confirmed by participants at the session. However, Sharon must still win approval for the plan in Parliament, where it is scheduled to come up for debate and a vote on Oct 25. The PM suffered a symbolic defeat Oct 11 when legislators held a nonbinding vote and rejected Sharon's policy speech opening the current session of Parliament. The speech was largely devoted to the Gaza withdrawal. Meanwhile, the Yesha Council, the main group representing settlers, said it organised 100 rallies around the country on Oct 14 night, including one near Sharon's official residence in Jerusalem, to protest the Gaza pullout. About two-thirds of Israelis support Sharon's plan, according to opinion surveys, but the settlers are well-organised and have been holding large demonstrations to build opposition to the plan. Sharon is calling for the evacuation of all 8,000 settlers in Gaza, and several hundred in the West Bank, though he also seeks to consolidate Israel's control of the larger West Bank settlements. At the parliamentary hearing Oct 14, Sharon also said the Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, which began more than two weeks ago, would continue as long as Palestinians fired rockets at nearby Israeli communities. The Israeli military killed five Palestinians in air strikes Oct 14. In the Jabaliya refugee camp, the main focus of the Israeli incursion, the air force killed two militants planting a bomb, according to the military and Palestinians in the camp. In the southern town of Rafah, an air strike killed two militants from Hamas and a 70-year-old civilian, identified as Ismail Al Sawalhah, according to the military and Palestinian residents. According to residents, the Israeli forces also damaged or destroyed about 20 houses in Rafah. The military said it was searching for tunnels used to smuggle weapons from nearby Egypt and knocked down abandoned homes that Palestinians had used for cover when firing on soldiers. The violence brought the Palestinian death toll in northern Gaza to 100, including 59 militants and 41 civilians, according to a count by the Reuters news agency. The five Israeli deaths include two soldiers and three civilians. Despite the large Israeli presence, Palestinian rocket fire has continued, though at a reduced level. The Israeli media has cited some commanders as saying they cannot expect to achieve much more in the current operation. However, Yuval Steinitz, head of the parliamentary committee that met with Sharon, said he believed the military would have to launch an even larger offensive in the future. Steinitz, an influential member of Sharon's Likud party, said the current action was intended to prevent the rocket fire, but was not directed at the workshops that make the rockets, or those who store them in Gaza City, a sprawling city with about 500,000 residents. "In order to reduce the capacity of the terrorists, I think we will have to take over the whole area", including Gaza City, Steinitz said. Meanwhile, the Palestinian PM Ahmad Qurei, acknowledged that the Palestinian security forces have been unable to prevent the growing lawlessness in Palestinian areas. "Unfortunately, up to now the Palestinian security forces have not been able to control this situation and we bear a very big responsibility for this", Qurei was quoted as saying in Al Ayyam, a Palestinian daily. "There's still chaos, still killing". In another development, a leading rabbi said Israeli soldiers should refuse to evacuate Jewish settlers from Gaza, saying to do so would be the same as eating nonkosher meat, such as pork. "It's not allowed and they must tell their commander that it is forbidden", Rabbi Avraham Shapira was quoted as saying in Besheva, a religious weekly. Shapira is a former chief rabbi in Israel and is still considered an influential figure. His comments reflect the divisive nature of the planned Gaza withdrawal. However, it is not yet clear how the withdrawal would be carried out. Israeli officials have not said whether settlers resisting removal would be evacuated by young soldiers who are performing compulsory military service, or by other members of the security forces, such as the border police, who are career officers.