Chris Otton, Agence France Presse

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 12 January 2004 — Israel warned that it would react to a Palestinian declaration of independence by formally annexing parts of the occupied West Bank. “Our message is clear: if the Palestinians unilaterally proclaim an independent state, Israel will annex parts (of the West Bank) that it judges essential to its security,” Health Minister Danny Naveh told public radio.

“The Palestinians are trying every trick to avoid implementing the road map,” the minister added in reference to the peace plan drafted by an international quartet. The Palestinian leadership said Saturday that it was mulling the possibility of unilaterally proclaiming an independent state on land occupied by Israel since 1967.

“The Palestinian leadership ... believes it has the right under international law and signed accords to work toward the creation of a democratic state in all territories occupied in 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital,” said a statement issued after a meeting chaired by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned that Israel will “disengage” from the bilateral peace process with the Palestinians if there is no crackdown on militants by Prime Minister Qorei’s government in the next few months.

While there has been a marked downturn in Palestinian attacks in recent months, Israeli authorities say that it is due to their success in foiling attacks.

Sharon’s disengagement plan is likely to see Israel evacuate a small number of settlements but in turn strengthen its control over others.

While the plan has angered Palestinians, settlers have also vowed to oppose what some have termed the forcible “transfer of Jews” by their one-time champion Sharon.

With the peace process between the Palestinians and Israelis at an apparent dead end, Sharon has come under pressure to react to peace overtures by Syria. State media in Damascus on Saturday called on the United States to help restart Israeli-Syrian peace talks.