Sharon is accused Sharon of planning to create new boundaries (AFP)

GAZA CITY, December 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli occupation forces overnight Sunday, December 28, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began unilateral steps in the teeth of Palestinian and U.S. opposition.

Sharon appointed a new security adviser to head the team tasked with a possible redeployment of army posts as a unilateral step he had threatened to take among others against Palestinians.

Giora Eiland, a prominent military officer, is being given a task force with representatives from the Defense, Foreign and Justice Ministries as well as the military and security services, said a government statement carried by the BBC News Online.

Also, Sharon signed orders to dismantle four unauthorized settlers' outposts in the West Bank in a new procedure used for the first time to allow for rapid evacuation.

Reports suggest that Ginnot Arieh, with about 10 families, is the only inhabited outpost among the four.

Settlers have vowed to resist the removal of the posts peacefully, while others have accused Sharon of planning to create new boundaries, the BBC NewsOnline said.

The steps were considered part of the disengagement plan that would leave the Palestinians living in ghettos encircled by Israeli forces, and dash all hopes for a peaceful settlement to the long-standing crisis and nip in the pud the U.S.-drafted roadmap peace plan.

Stone throwing by Palestinians, more drop killed

"The government was looking at a new line of redeployment which includes the relocation of settlements and redeployment of army camps and installations in the eventuality that the roadmap fails," a senior source in Sharon's office was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

In a keynote address on 18 December, Sharon warned that Israel would take unilateral steps unless there was progress on the roadmap, including the dismantling of settler outposts and accelerating the building of the controversial security barrier in the West Bank, he said.

Israel's threats have been widely criticized by both U.S. and Palestinian leaders.

Leading Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Palestinian radio that the appointment of Eiland showed Israel was "escalating the implementation of unilateral steps".

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, on his part, said he was disappointed at Sharon's "threats" to disengage, saying Palestinians were "committed" to reaching a permanent agreement and ending the conflict.

Washington would "oppose any unilateral steps that block the road towards negotiations under the roadmap that leads to the two-state vision", White House spokesman Scott McClellan had said.

"A settlement must be negotiated and we would oppose any Israeli effort to impose a settlement," he added.

The "road map" plan, supported by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, is a multi-stage plan leading to the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005.

New Casualties

In the meantime, an Israeli military source was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying the three people were killed near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.

"Many armed Palestinian activists were spotted late afternoon Sunday near the Netzarim settlement (in the northern Gaza Strip) from where mortar shells were fired, injuring no one," the source said.

"The Israeli troops responded, opening fire in the direction of the source of the bombardment and the Palestinians announced that they had incurred three fatalities in their ranks," the source added.