Israel could eventually relinquish more West Bank settlements - beyond the four to be dismantled in coming weeks - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suggested on Friday.

But he reiterated that Israel would keep major West Bank settlement blocs in any peace deal with Palestinians.

When Sharon decided more than a year ago to quit Gaza, captured 38 years ago, he reasoned that would make it easier for Israel to hold on to the major West Bank settlement blocs, where most of 240,000 Jewish settlers live.

Israel's determination to hold on to and expand these blocs could cloud hopes that the impending withdrawal from Gaza would restart stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The Israeli Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced that it wants to complete the withdrawal from Gaza and the northern West Bank by September 4 rather than mid-September, the original target date. The forcible removal of Jews from their homes there is to begin on Wednesday.

The deadline was moved up even as military sources raised to 3,000 the number of people they estimate have entered Gaza settlements to bolster resistance. About 55,000 soldiers and police - 10,000 more than planned - will be involved in the forcible removal of resisters among the nearly 9,000 settlers to be uprooted.

The Palestinian Authority is anxious for a smooth handover that would prove its ability to control volatile Gaza after the Israelis depart. Militant factions, however, are trying to create the impression that they are driving out the Israelis by force, and have been firing rockets and mortars at Gaza settlements and nearby Israeli towns daily.

In Gaza early on Friday, about 1,000 armed and masked Hamas militants trained to infiltrate and attack Jewish settlements. It was not clear whether this signaled an intent by the militant group to fire on settlers and evacuation forces during the impending pullout.

A spokesman for the group said ``we will keep our weapons in hand until we liberate all our land. Gaza is the beginning. We will not lay down our weapons after the Zionists withdraw from Gaza because the road ahead is long.''

The Palestinian Authority's information minister and deputy prime minister, Nabil Shaath, said in response that the government would ``not permit two authorities in Palestine.''

Also on Friday, a private economic foundation bought most of the greenhouses in Gaza settlements for US$14 million (HK$109 million) and will hand them over to the Palestinians, said Yossi Beilin, leader of the dovish Israeli Yahad Party.