Sharon vows Jerusalem will remain in Israeli hands

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that the planned Israeli pullout of the Gaza Strip, scheduled for mid-August, was set to be coordinated with the Palestinian security services, so as to avoid attacks by militants.

"It has been decided that the disengagement will not take place under fire. We will do everything possible to coordinate the disengagement with the Palestinians."

A Palestinian security official said the Palestinians are recruiting 5,600 police to provide security during the evacuation, and that their duties will include preventing attacks on Israelis.

"The plan includes protecting any installations or houses or facilities that Israel leaves, and to prevent any action from the Palestinian factions," said Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa. He said the Palestinian forces are ready to coordinate their actions with Israel or act on their own.

An official who attended Mofaz's parliamentary meeting, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mofaz has asked the Palestinians to place a large force near settlements to prevent militant attacks during the pullout.

Israel and the Palestinians have pledged to cooperate during the withdrawal, but taken few concrete steps to do so. Palestinian officials said the two sides planned to meet last night to discuss coordination.

The Palestinians said the Israelis were to hand over maps of Jewish settlements in Gaza, a move that would be a key sign of coordination. Palestinian officials have said they need the infrastructure plans in order to prepare for the post-Israel era in Gaza.

In a separate development, Egypt warned Israel not to ask too much of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, describing repeated demands for him to disarm militant groups as "unrealistic and impractical."

"Abu Mazen (Abbas) does not have a magic wand to implement the demands being made of him," President Hosni Mubarak's spokesman told reporters after a summit with King Abdullah II of Jordan.

"Demanding of Abu Mazen that he dismantle the infrastructure of Palestinian [militant] groups is unrealistic and impractical," said Suleiman Awad.

The Egyptian spokesman asked how Israel could expect the Palestinian leadership to tackle the militants head-on when its own government was adopting a soft approach with Jewish settlers opposed to its plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian spokesman welcomed Israel's unfreezing of a promised release of Palestinian prisoners but criticized its slowness to implement a wider confidence-building package agreed with Abbas in February.

Awad also said U.S. Secretary of of State Condoleezza Rice was due to visit Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories later this month.

In Jerusalem, some 3,000 police were deployed to prevent possible friction on Jerusalem Day, which Israelis mark with marches and speeches.

With tensions running high, a confrontation erupted yesterday morning as several Jewish visitors toured the Al-Aqsa compound, accompanied by police.

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said hundreds of Palestinians threw stones at the visitors and their police guards. Additional forces stormed the walled compound, throwing stun grenades to disperse the crowd, Ben-Ruby said.

In other developments, a Hamas leader said the Islamic militant group is willing to negotiate a new date for parliamentary elections with the ruling Fatah Party, provided the vote takes place before the end of the year.

Earlier this week, Abbas indefinitely postponed the election, initially set for July 17, citing technical difficulties. Hamas protested the delay, but stopped short of abandoning a Mideast truce over Abbas' decision. The West Bank leader of Hamas, Hassan Yousef, met with Sakher Habash, a Fatah representative, and the two decided to form a committee that would propose a new date.

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