Israel's defence chief today denied a planned Gaza withdrawal could be derailed if Hamas militants triumph in a Palestinian parliamentary election.
Reaffirming Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's position, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz rebuffed comments by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom who had cast doubt on the settlement evacuation plan in light of the Islamic faction's growing political clout.
"The 'disengagement' will not be cancelled," said Mr Mofaz, a Sharon ally entrusted with carrying out the removal of all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank timetabled for mid-August.
Mr Shalom, an early opponent of the withdrawal who wields little influence over security policy, had said yesterday that Israel would have to rethink the Gaza pullout if Hamas won control of the Palestinian Authority in a July 17th election.
"It seems to me unreasonable to move forward with the implementation of the disengagement plan as if nothing had happened and hand over the territories only for Hamas to create there a 'Hamastan'," Mr Shalom told a seminar in Tel Aviv.
Hamas is sworn to Israel's destruction but has pledged to abide by a truce for now. It won control of some of Gaza's major towns in municipal polls last week and expects a strong showing against President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction in the legislative election.
That could pose problems for Mr Abbas's peace efforts with Israel. US-led mediators are counting on the ceasefire and pullout to revive a "road map" peace plan leading to Palestinian statehood.