Palestinian officials downplayed on Thursday the impact exerted by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon 's health condition after the Israeli leader was rushed to hospital for the second time.
Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath said Sharon's health condition won't have much impact on Israel's political landscape until its general elections set on March 28.
Shaath's remarks came after Sharon was rushed to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem late Wednesday night after suffering a significant stroke.
He was rushed into surgery after intracranial bleeding was detected, but there was no immediate assessment of the damage he may have suffered.
"I don't think that there will be another leader among the Israelis like Sharon, although his deputy Ehud Olmert and his thoughts are very close to Sharon's," said Shaath.
During Sharon's stay in hospital, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will serve as acting Prime Minister.
Shaath said he didn't predict any dramatic changes in Israel, even if Sharon is sick.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) executive committee, told reporters that it is very difficult to predict or say that the Palestinians are afraid of the absence of Sharon.
"With or without Sharon, what will come will not be worth that what has been going on during the last five years," said Abed Rabbo.
However, Islamic militant groups which are often sworn to Israel's destruction, struck a different note.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas leader, said the absence of Sharon will have negative effects on the Palestinian legislative elections due on Jan. 25.
"The absence of Sharon will exert an internal impact on the situation in Israel, and the peace process will also be negatively affected," said Hamdan.
The Palestinians should be well-prepared for the coming stage, he added.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militant groups, mainly the Islamic Jihad (Holy War), expressed satisfaction at Sharon's illness, saying that the Palestinian people will never feel sorry for his illness.
"He has to go to hell. He is one of the tyrants who committed scores of bloody massacres against the Palestinian people," said Anwar Abu Taha, a senior Islamic Jihad leader.
"With or without Sharon, the Islamic Jihad is determined to continue with the armed struggle until the Palestinian people get their legitimate rights. Israel in general doesn't want to make the Palestinians' dream come true," he added.
Under Sharon's disengagement plan, Israel completed withdrawing soldiers and some 8,500 settlers from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip in mid-September 2005, ending Israel's 38 years of occupation on the tiny coastal trip, which, together with the West Bank, the Palestinians want for a viable state.
Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.