United Nations: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that Israel would have to return land to the Palestinians in order to achieve peace, and that pulling out of the Gaza Strip would not be enough.

Annan, a co-sponsor of the "roadmap" Middle East peace plan, also said he was encouraged by the prospects for a settlement and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon still supported the internationally-backed blueprint.

"I think the issue really is land for peace and eventually Israel will have to give up land to make that peace possible," he told reporters when questioned about Sharon's announcement that 17 Gaza settlements would be evacuated.

"If Israel were to decide to withdraw from Gaza as a necessary first step... one will also have to consider when the next steps on the West Bank are going to be taken because the land for peace is not just Gaza, it also embraces the West Bank," he said.

Sharon, however, is considering whether to ask the United States to agree on a plan to expand West Bank settlement blocs in exchange for a Gaza pullout, his spokesman said.

Sharon said in December that he would unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians if they failed to fulfill their commitments under the roadmap, which aims to create an independent Palestinian State.

But Annan cautioned that it was still too early to jump to conclusions about Israel's plans.