November 5, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 9, 1424

AL QUDS, Nov 4: A partner in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government is drawing up a peace proposal that includes a call to evacuate an isolated Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, reflecting more internal dissent over his policies.

The plan by the centrist Shinui party, the second-largest partner in Israel’s ruling coalition, will be presented to Sharon once Shinui members approved it, possibly next week, party officials said on Tuesday.

The plan, other than the suggestion to evacuate the central Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim, followed the lines of a US-backed “road map” which has stalled by fresh violence.

Netzarim was the scene of a Palestinian attack on October 24 in which three soldiers, two of them women, were killed.

The deaths renewed a long-running debate in Israel whether Netzarim, located near Gaza City and guarded by a battalion of troops, contributes to Israeli security as government and military officials contend.

Though the proposal by Shinui leader Tommy Lapid is likely to infuriate rightwingers in the cabinet, Sharon has indicated he would be willing to give it a hearing.

“Let him propose and then we’ll see,” Sharon told reporters in Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin on Monday.

The plan was the latest internal challenge to Sharon’s tough policies towards the Palestinians that include tight travel restrictions which Israel says are necessary to stop suicide bombings and Palestinians condemn as collective punishment.—Reuters