CAIRO, June 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Both Israel and Palestine on Tuesday welcomed Egypt's role in the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli pullout, saying that Egypt's role would be crucial.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is struggling to push through his troubled plan to pull out of Gaza, said he thanked Egypt's help and hoped the new cooperation can bring the two countries closer.

    "I think that Egyptian involvement -- if it really is carried out seriously, as President (Hosni) Mubarak said in my last conversation with him yesterday -- has definite importance," Sharon said.

    "Calm in the Gaza Strip and seriously dealing with the terrorist organizations ... is something very important to the Egyptians," Sharon said.

    "It's really important for us, too, and it could well be that cooperation on this matter could increase areas of cooperation between us and Egypt."

    On the Palestinian side, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said they "welcome the Egyptian efforts to protect the peace process."

    "We are still waiting for Israel's response to make a comprehensive and just peace, based on international legitimacy and resolutions," Arafat told reporters.

    "Israel has not responded yet to the Egyptian calls," he said.

    Two days ago, Arafat said that he is prepared to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss peace. "I am prepared to meet with Sharon," Arafat said. "Why not? If there is a will for peace, it will overcome all other ideas."

    "I extend my hand to Sharon, to the people, to the Knesset (Israel's parliament), to the government of Israel," Arafat said inan interview with Israel's Channel 10 TV.

    According to Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA), the Israelis and Palestinians have accepted an Egyptian plan for a ceasefire, a resumption of peace talks and a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qurei.

    The agency said Sharon had "agreed to stop violence, bombings and assassinations, on condition that the Palestinians remain committed" to an end to hostilities.

    Palestinian leader Arafat had "approved the Egyptian plan and said he was ready to start working immediately toward a ceasefire," according to MENA.

    The news came after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak confirmed in an interview with Romanian television that his country was ready to train Palestinian forces to maintain security in the GazaStrip.

    "We are ready to train Palestinian forces in case of a withdrawal from Gaza in order to help them to secure the area," Mubarak said in the interview.

    MENA said Egypt was ready to send 150 to 200 officers and experts to Gaza immediately to train some 30,000 Palestinian troops over a period of six months.

    Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom will travel to Cairo early next week to discuss Egypt's role in the Gaza Strip after Israel's eventual pullout.

    Shalom had been scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian President Mubarak this Thursday, but the visit was postponed until Monday, one day after the Israeli cabinet votes on Sharon's withdrawal plan.

    According to an Israeli government statement, Sharon and Mubarak decided in a telephone conversation Monday to establish a joint committee, which would deal with bilateral issues.

    The statement said Mubarak reiterated his support for Sharon's disengagement plan and stressed his willingness to assist in advancing it.

    Egypt has said in the past that it is willing to take responsibility over the Israeli-controlled Philadelphi buffer zonealong Gaza's border with Egypt after an Israeli pullout.

    Sharon however has said Israel will keep control over the buffer axis even after a withdrawal to prevent weapons smuggling through tunnels built by Palestinian militants under the border. Enditem