OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, October 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Further dashing hopes for any let-up in the cycle of violence or embarking on an already dead peace process, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed Monday, October 31, to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

"My government's development projects include not only the Galilee, Negev and Jerusalem, but also the large settlement blocs, the Jordan Valley and the Golan," Sharon told MPs in his first address to parliament since withdrawing troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip after a costly 38-year occupation, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The US-sponsored roadmap for peace in the Middle East demands a freeze to all Jewish settlement activity in the occupied territories.

The peace plan, drafted by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003.

Despite quitting Gaza, Sharon has repeatedly pledged that there will be no let-up in plans to expand Jewish settlements in parts of the West Bank and in the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and later unilaterally annexed.

He also vowed to press on with construction of the controversial separation barrier which Israel is building through the West Bank, despite a ruling by the International Court of Justice that parts built on occupied land are illegal.

A demand by Palestinian children. (Reuters)

Sharon's statements came few days after his hawkish defense minister dismissed the Palestinian leadership as a partner for peace and ruled out any Palestinian state in the foreseeable future.

The prime minister further said Monday the onus was now on the Palestinians to make "painful concessions" towards peace.

"The Palestinians must understand that only a determined fight against terrorism, including the dismantling of its organizations, will ensure the calm to which we all aspire," Sharon said.

Making use of the US-propagated war on terror, Israel refers to Palestinian resistance factions as "terrorist groups".

Eleven Palestinians have been killed in army operations and air strikes since a suicide bombing killed five Israelis last Wednesday in what Islamic Jihad resistance faction said was a retaliation for Israel's assassination of a senior leader in the West Bank days earlier.

"The entire international community is united in its demand that the Palestinian Authority fulfill its obligations, disarm terrorist organizations and prevent attacks on Israel," Sharon charged.

"It is clear to everyone this is the only way to reach a settlement between us and the Palestinians. The government's objective is to implement the roadmap," he said.

Palestinians vowed revenge for Israeli assassinations. (Reuters)

On the other hand, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said Sharon's call to develop Jewish settlements was the very antithesis of peace.

"We are asking the international community to pressure Israel to stop all violations, aggression and settlement activity," Erakat told AFP.

"Final status negotiations are the only way. Peace and settlement activity are incompatible."

And in Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) called Monday on the world community to step in to halt what it termed Israel's "ongoing aggression" against the Palestinians.

A statement issued by the GCC's secretariat urged "the international community, the quartet and the UN Security Council to shoulder their responsibilities and intervene immediately to halt the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people," according to AFP.

The GCC statement denounced "the terrorist conduct" of Israeli forces "against Palestinian worshippers in (occupied) Jerusalem," and slammed "the racist remarks of Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ruling out the chance of peace with the current Palestinian leadership or the present generation."

Mofaz was quoted Friday as saying he very much doubted that Israel could reach a peace accord with the present Palestinian leadership.

"We must wait for the next generation," he was quoted as saying by an Israeli daily.

Thousands of Palestinian mourners on Monday buried two activists from Islamic Jihad shot dead by Israeli forces during a West Bank operation after the group claimed Wednesday's suicide bombing.

Dozens of masked fighters fired volleys of bullets into the air and called for the killings to be avenged.

The Palestinian interior ministry said the killings "threaten the quiet understanding which the Palestinian leadership and people want to protect".

Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khussa accused Israel of refusing to end the cycle of violence because it was reluctant to resume peace talks.