Sharon said the Israelis "need to take painful steps" toward peace, referring to his plan to pull out from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.(Xinhua)

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a press conference in Jerusalem on Feb. 15.

    JERUSALEM, Feb. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday that Israel is standing at a crossroad of peace after the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.

    Addressing the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem, Sharon said the summit showed there can be progress toward peace if violence is ended.

    Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas declared a mutual truce to end more than four years of bloodshed on Feb. 8 at the summit.

    The Israelis "need to take painful steps" toward peace, Sharon said, referring to his plan to pull out from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

    But he hoped to prevent a rift among his people, saying that Israel is prepared to make "painful compromises for peace, but it will not make any compromises with terror."

    "I have never given in to threats, and I will not start now," he responded to questions on far right extremists' threats to cabinet ministers.

    "The only thing that concerns me is how to progress and not to delay," he said.

    Sharon hoped Gaza would be under the control of the Palestinian National Authority after the Israeli pullout, but not Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

    He said coordination over the pullout with Palestinian officials has begun.

    "Disengagement from Gaza will be coordinated with the Palestinians," Sharon said.

    The prime minister said his plan would solidify Israel's grip on main settlement blocs in the West Bank, which "will be part of the Jewish state in the future."

    No peace plan could be imposed on Israel, said Sharon, insisting on sticking to the internationally backed roadmap peace plan.    However, negotiations have not resumed on the plan, said he. Enditem