Gaza settlements to be razed: Rice

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed that Jewish settler homes in the Gaza Strip will be destroyed as part of Israel’s pull...

Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed that Jewish settler homes in the Gaza Strip will be destroyed as part of Israel’s pullout from the area, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday.

Rice, on a visit to Israel and the West Bank, said Israel and the Palestinian Authority also agreed to cooperate to ensure the withdrawal, which she hailed as an historic step towards resolving the Middle East conflict, would proceed peacefully.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reaffirmed there could be no 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.

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‘‘Israel and the Palestinian Authority agree that the settler homes in Gaza should be removed,’’ Rice told a news conference after meeting Sharon. ‘‘Therefore the parties will work towards a plan for destruction and cleanup.’’

Palestinian officials said rubble from the settlements,whose evacuation is due to begin in mid-August, could be used to build a seaport for Gaza. An Israeli official said it would take three to four weeks to complete the pullout and Israel 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.

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

Sharon is due to hold a summit with Abbas on Tuesday. Abbas is expected to press Sharon to open Gaza’s borders, which Israel controls under interim peace deals, to wider movement of people and goods after the pullout.

—Reuters