Sharon denies any plan to kill Arafat

"I’m afraid to even mention the words ‘to kill him’," Mr Sharon told a delegation of European parliamentarians in Jerusalem. "I don’t see any plans to kill him although the man is responsible for deaths of hundreds and thousands of mostly civilians because his strategy is a strategy of terror."

Mr Arafat is currently confined to his Ramallah headquarters. Some Israeli officials want to isolate the Palestinian Authority president further by cutting his communications.

Earlier this month, Mr Sharon appeared to rule out forcing him into exile, saying it could harm Israel’s interests.

Mr Sharon’s statements followed comments from Israel’s defence ministry yesterday that it would provide services such as security and education to eight Jewish settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank. The government had pledged to dismantle such outposts under the US-backed "road map" towards a two-state solution.

The PA accused Mr Sharon of lying about his commitment to the road map following Israel’s decision to consolidate the outposts. "This move will certainly increase the cycle of violence," Jibril Rajoub, Mr Arafat’s security adviser, told Reuters.

Eight outposts, many of which consist of only a few caravans and an Israeli flag, will be separated from surrounding Palestinian territory by a fence. Children living in the settlements will be escorted to school. There are more than 200,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, mostly in larger communities built since the Israeli occupation began in 1967.

Peace Now, an Israeli group, said there were 104 outposts when the road map was launched earlier this year. The Israeli military dismantled seven amid great media fanfare – but five more have been established, bringing the total to 102.

The road map called on Israel to dismantle all outposts built since March 2001 and freeze expansion in the older settlements.