WASHINGTON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- US President George W. Bush onTuesday urged both Israel and Palestinian authorities to make the sacrifices necessary for the sake of the Middle East peace process.

    "The role of the United States will be to continue to urge both parties to make the sacrifices necessary, sacrifice meaning that Israel must withdraw from the settlements, there must be contiguous territory for a Palestinian state, into which a Palestinian state can grow," said Bush.

    "The Palestinians, in their part, must continue to work hard tofight any terrorist activities within the territories, and the Arab world must continue to work together to help Palestine build the necessary structures for democracy," he said.

    "What the president was referring to was the withdrawal plan that is being pursued by (Israeli) Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon as well as the unauthorized outposts which the roadmap calls for Israel to remove," White House spokesman Scott McClellan explainedlater.

    Under the US-sponsored Middle East roadmap peace plan, Israel is obliged to dismantle all unauthorized outposts that have been erected in the West Bank since Sharon took office in March 2001.

    Sharon recently vowed that settlement activity would continue in the West Bank and Jerusalem despite his intentions to evacuate all Jewish communities in the occupied Gaza Strip by the end of this year. Enditem