WITHDRAWAL PLAN Israelis to stay in some towns

Palestinians are demanding that all Israeli settlements be disbanded.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon now can count on unprecedented U.S. backing for his plan to hold on to parts of the West Bank, a policy shift by President Bush that strengthens Sharon politically just weeks ahead of a vote in his Likud Party on a proposed Gaza Strip pullout.
An exchange of letters between Bush and Sharon at a White House meeting Wednesday put in writing U.S. support for Israel's plan to withdraw from all Gaza Strip settlements and some West Bank enclaves.
Bush said it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to pull back to the borders that existed before the 1967 Mideast war due to large Jewish population centers that have been built on the territory since then.
Major West Bank settlements now make it "unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return" to prewar borders, Bush said.
He also ruled out Palestinian refugees' returning to Israel after a Palestinian state is created.
Bush's change to long-standing U.S. policy enraged the Palestinians, who are demanding that all West Bank and Gaza Strip settlements be dismantled so a Palestinian state can be established on the land.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said, "We as Palestinians reject that. We cannot accept that. We reject it and we refuse it."
What's behind this
Sharon sorely needed Bush's clear and public endorsement of his "disengagement plan" as he heads home today for an intense battle to persuade more than 200,000 hard-line Likud Party members to vote May 2 in favor of the plan. After the referendum, Sharon's Cabinet and parliament also must approve the withdrawal.
Sharon spent hours after his meeting Wednesday with Bush updating key Cabinet ministers and opposition leader Shimon Peres on the talks, a senior official in the prime minister's entourage said on condition of anonymity. At least one Cabinet minister announced shortly afterward that she had decided to support the pullout plan.
The official said the pullout plan would be fully implemented by the end of 2005. Sharon has said recently that by April 2005, Israel would be in the midst of pulling out of settlements.
Wednesday's White House meeting was the culmination of more than two months of intense U.S.-Israeli negotiations over each side's commitments and the wording of the two letters.
The negotiations continued to the last minute, leading Sharon to delay his flight to Washington by three hours until he was satisfied with the wording in the American letter, the Israeli official said.
In the end, Sharon was elated. The Israeli official said no U.S. administration had ever expressed such strong support for Israel's position on key final-status issues.
Another view
But behind the scenes, administration officials tried to cast the day's events as Bush's gaining concessions from Sharon, saying Bush's statement did not indicate a change in U.S. policy.
The officials said Israel's commitment to dismantle Gaza Strip and West Bank settlements could lead to a breakthrough in long-frozen negotiations on implementing the U.S.-backed road map peace plan, which envisions the formation of a Palestinian state by next year.
Meanwhile, an Israeli helicopter fired a missile during a raid of a Gaza refugee camp early today, and at least 15 Palestinians were wounded, hospital officials said.
Witnesses said the missile was fired toward a crowd of civilians and gunmen. The army said the missile hit a field in an attempt to move a group of Palestinian militants away from Israeli troops.
Four of the wounded were in a critical condition, Dr. Ali Musa of Rafah Hospital said.
The helicopters were accompanying a force of about 25 Israeli tanks searching for weapon smuggling tunnels in Rafah.
Military officials said troops were trying to find tunnels used by Palestinians to smuggle weapons from Egypt. The officials said Israeli forces had been tipped off that smugglers were active again. It was the second Israeli operation in Rafah in two days. The camp is a frequent flashpoint of clashes because of the tunnels.
Four houses were leveled in the raid, Palestinian witnesses said.