Report: Sharon says he won't retake Palestinian territory on West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he won't retake West Bank Palestinian-controlled areas if Israeli-Palestinian fighting worsens, Newsweek reports.

"Areas that were given to the Palestinians - there, I think, the situation is irreversible, and I don't think we have to reenter," Sharon said in an interview.

"That doesn't mean that Israel will not take steps against people who find shelter there."

Sharon said he spoke with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat three weeks ago and told him he wanted to distinguish between organizations "against whom we have to take the necessary steps" and Palestinians, "whose conditions I would like to ease.

VIDEO CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney reports on Arafat's call for new peace talks during his address to Palestinian parliament Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    TIMELINES Recent acts of violence in the Middle East:  • Bombings  • Activist deaths    RESOURCES Profiles of members of the new Israeli government Composition of the Israeli parliament    ALSO Arafat calls for new talks with Israel Arafat ready for historic speech

"I said I would like to start immediately by opening the gates of the Palestinian Authority area to raw materials, [permitting] their agricultural products to be taken out and increasing the number of employees [allowed to enter Israel]. But a day or so later, a wave of terror started and has continued right up to today."

Both sides blame each other for more than five months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting that has killed 380 Palestinians, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Israel Defense Forces says 65 Israeli Jews and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed in the clashes.

Sharon said he told Arafat he was ready to negotiate with him, "but that cannot be done under pressure of terror or violence. That is the difference between this government and [former Prime Minister Ehud] Barak's. Making those concessions weakened Israel."

Sharon accused Arafat's most loyal forces, like the presidential guard, of being "active participants in violence and terror."

If Arafat wanted to stop the violence, "he can stop it," Sharon said. "He hasn't lost control."

Sharon, 72, helped form the conservative Likud party, whose election slogan was, "Only Sharon can bring peace."

He told the magazine that his extensive military experience that dates back to Israel's war on independence in 1948 prepared him to broker that peace.

"I think I can make peace because I saw all the horrors of war. I participated in all the wars and lost my best friends in battles. I was seriously injured twice. Therefore, I understand the importance of peace better than politicians who speak about peace but never experienced war," Sharon said.

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Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Israel Defense Forces
Palestinian National Authority

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