GAZA CITY, April 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The United States is working hard to "internationalize" the Israeli "disengagement" plan from the Gaza Strip, press reports said as Israeli PM Ariel Sharon said that Palestinians might not get a state for many years as a result of this plan.

This come as three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Monday, April 5, in the Gaza Strip.

The American initiative would allow the contribution of the United Nations, the European Union and Arab parties in carrying out the plan, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper said in its Monday edition.

The American initiative stipulates that Jewish settlements in the strip would be "bought" for the Palestinians in return for the Palestinian government "repressing" the Palestinian resistance fighters.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon laid down the unilateral plans in February, whereby Israeli troops would withdraw from the Gaza Strip and evacuate 17 settlements there, where some 7,500 Jews live among over 1.2 million Palestinians.

The U.S. administration wants to turn the "disengagement" plan into an international initiative carried out by the United Nations, the European Union, Egypt and Jordan, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, citing well-placed Israeli sources.

The international community would thus allow the international community help finance the reconstruction process after the Israeli pullout and resettle Jewish settlers evacuated in the pre-1948 occupied territories, the paper said.

Sharon is expected to meet U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for talks on the role of the international community on putting his plan on the ground.

Israel seeks to lobby the U.N. for deeming the plan an end to occupation in the Gaza Strip, the paper said, adding that Washington exercises pressures to that effect.

U.S. President George W. Bush would pressure Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak - whom he would meet in the few coming weeks - to help enforce the plan, the paper said.

The American plan requested international efforts be exerted to convince the Palestinian Authority launch relentless campaign against resistance movements.

The newspaper said that British government had begun training security forces for the purpose.

The EU and Arab parties would train security apparatuses towards this, according to the initiative.

Egypt notified the Bush administration of agreement to help work hard for curbing the influence of Hamas following the pullout, after which group had expressed wishes to share power and responsibilities, the Israeli Maariv newspaper said on Sunday, April 4.

Cairo also agreed to send hundreds of security personnel members to the borderline Rafah city to prevent any alleged arms smuggling, the paper added.

Sharon told the Israeli Army Radio early on Monday that he would not destroy houses in Gaza Strip in the pullout.

Israel wants to make contacts with international organizations to bear responsibility for the buildings in return for reparations.

But the withdrawal could be rather tactical, justifying Palestinians' opposition to the unilateral move.

Sharon said he would evacuate only 17 of the 21 settlements in the strip, saying he could not also order the evacuation of Philadelphia line between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on the first phase.

Also, only four small settlements in the West Bank would be also dismantled, he said, denying the evacuation is a "publicity stunt" serving Bush before the coming American presidential elections, due in November 2004.

But the message came mixed from the Israeli Prime Minister.

"Palestinians might not get a state for many years as a result of Israel's unilateral 'disengagement' plan", Sharon said in a series of interviews published Monday.

Sharon said the withdrawal plan is a "deadly blow" to the Palestinians and that he would not coordinate with them.

"In the unilateral plan, there is no Palestinian state. This situation could continue for many years," Sharon told Yediot Aharanot.

The prime minister told Maariv that his plan "will bring their (the Palestinians') dreams to an end".

Palestinians charge the withdrawal plan is a ruse to trade Gaza for a permanent grasp over most of the West Bank, the Associated Press said.

"If he cancels the partnership between us and the Israeli government, then it's a deliberate attempt by him to postpone or delay the creation of the Palestinian state," said Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat.

The Palestinians say they welcome any withdrawal, but that it must be coordinated with them and be carried out as part of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.

In the Gaza Strip, the bodies of three Palestinians - apparently shot by Israeli forces before dawn - were found near an Israeli settlement. The army claimed troops had opened fire on three figures near the border fence with Israel.

Israeli sources said troops had opened fire on three figures in the darkness late Sunday who had been spotted in a "closed military zone" approaching the crossing.