Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Monday rejected Israel's plan to quit the Gaza Strip as a sham that would turn it into "a big prison".
Palestinian leaders initially gave a cautious welcome to the possibility of Israeli soldiers and settlers leaving the coastal strip, despite suspicions that the Gaza withdrawal plan was an Israeli ruse to strengthen its hold on the West Bank.
But after studying the details of the initiative, including Israel's intention to control Gaza's borders, air space and coastal waters, Arafat and the Palestinian leadership issued a statement slamming the plan as unacceptable.
"What is proposed is transforming Gaza Strip into a big prison and maintaining Israel's control (over it)," the Palestinian leadership said.
Under the plan, Israel would evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements and all troops from the Gaza Strip by late 2005, but control its airspace, coastal waters and the border between Gaza and Egypt until Israel was confident the Palestinian Authority was stamping out militant activity.
The Palestinians were also infuriated by a series of statements and letters issued by US President George W. Bush at the White House last week which underpin Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "disengagement plan".
The assurances - a sharp change to decades of US policy - implied that Israel would be able to keep some of the West Bank land it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and bar Palestinians from returning to land that is now part of Israel.
"Sharon's plan prejudices all final status issues and contravenes international resolutions and international law making the so-called withdrawal from Gaza Strip cosmetic and a delusion," the Palestinian leadership statement said.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza to be illegal. Israel disputes this.
The statement added that any pullout should be co-ordinated with the Palestinian leadership as part of a US-backed road map for peace that calls for a Palestinian state in 2005.
"Sharon's Gaza plan is not withdrawal and not the opportunity we had foreseen. This is Sharon's long-term interim solution," cabinet minister Saeb Erekat told.
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