JERUSALEM - Israel will not follow the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan and could remain in much of the West Bank for a long time after it withdraws from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a interview today.

Sharon's comments were his most detailed yet on his long-term vision for the region. Palestinian officials said the remarks confirmed their fears that Israel plans to draw its own borders and keep a large chunk of the West Bank, rather than negotiate a peace deal with the Palestinians as the road map envisions.

In violence Wednesday, 11 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops in two West Bank towns. Among the dead were at least seven fugitives and an 11-year-old girl, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Sharon's plan of "unilateral disengagement" from the Palestinians - a withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements in 2005 - has created deep divisions in Israel, with opponents using increasingly harsh rhetoric against him. Police said they are investigating death threats against Sharon.

On Tuesday, senior Cabinet ministers approved the payment of cash advances to settlers who leave their homes ahead of a September 2005 deadline - the first practical step toward the Gaza pullout. Settler families could get more than $100,000 each as a down payment.

The government hopes the money will entice large numbers of settlers to leave voluntarily, and make it easier for troops to evacuate those remaining.

Sharon said that as long as there is no significant shift in the Palestinian leadership and policy, "Israel will continue its war on terrorism, and will stay in the territories (of the West Bank) that will remain after the implementation of disengagement."

The road map was adopted by Israel and the Palestinians last year, but never got off the ground. The plan envisioned a Palestinian state by 2005, but did not spell out its borders.