Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his weekly cabinet meeting Sunday that Israel did not plan to remain in Palestinian cities the army has reoccupied.
Earlier, officials in the prime minister's office said Israel had no intention of reconquering Palestinian territory and that negotiations with the Palestinians had not been ruled out, reported the Te Aviv-based Haarez newspaper.
The pledge came as Israel's centrist Labor Party threatened to quit Sharon's coalition government Sunday if Israeli tanks maintained their stranglehold on autonomous Palestinian territory, Israeli radio reported, cited by AFP.
The threat was made in the weekly cabinet meeting after Israeli tanks staged a fourth day of invasions of six Palestinian towns in the West Bank in the biggest ground attacks in the year-long uprising against 34 years of Israeli occupation.
At least two Palestinians were killed and eight wounded in the unprecedented attacks, seen by the Palestinians as a premeditated plan to reoccupy the PA-ruled territories.
Trade and Industry Minister Dalia Itzik said Labour's tenure in the broad-based but right-leaning national unity coalition was helping Sharon's rightist Likud Party more than her own party.
"Some say our stay in the government helps (Likud) more than us. And every day I come closer to this conclusion," she said on the radio.
Itzik said that Sharon "even called me at home last night saying that he very much wants us to stay in the government."
Labor, which occupies 24 seats in the 120-member Knesset, also holds key cabinet posts, including foreign affairs, defense and trade and industry.
According to Sharon, continued Haaretz, the cities have been blockaded to thwart terror attacks, and to locate and capture members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The PFLP claimed responsibility for the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi last week, as retaliation for a helicopter gunship assassination of their own leader earlier this fall.
Despite the espoused motives for the incursions, most of the victims have so far been civilians, including women and children.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer said Sunday that the army action was aimed at preventing Palestinians from carrying out attacks inside Israel and not at destroying the Palestinian Authority.
"When there is a complete absence of efforts to prevent (terror), we have no choice but to stop terrorists from trying to penetrate into Israel. But I have no intention of bringing down the PA," Ben Eliezer told Israel Radio - Albawaba.com
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