Palestinian militants claimed a victory today after Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon announced a plan to remove most Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip but vowed no let-up in their attacks inside Israel.
"Sharon's statement no doubt resulted from the greatness of resistance and steadfastness of the Palestinian people," senior Islamic Jihad leader Mr Nafez Azzam told reporters in reference to the Mr Sharon's surprise announcement yesterday.
But the prospect of seeing as many as 17 of Gaza's 20 settlements evacuated held no joy for Islamic Jihad, which like kindred militant group Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction.
Israel seized Gaza along with the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war, and moderate Palestinians seek the territories for their own state. Islamic groups, however, view Israel itself as "occupied" land.
"It [Sharon's plan] will not end the occupation and as long as occupation continues resistance will go on," said Mr Sayed Seyam of Hamas, which along with Islamic Jihad has spearheaded suicide bombing campaigns during a more than three-year-old uprising.
Mr Sharon, a godfather of the Jewish settlement movement, has long opposed withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, saying it would encourage Arab enmity. But he began yielding last year under pressure to implement a US-led peace "road map".