JERUSALEM Ñ Israel conducted air exercises Ñ in which advanced U.S-made jets buzzed the West Bank and Gaza Strip Ñ and announced a plan for physical separation from the Palestinian areas.

Officials said the plan involves the establishment of a security strip of up to eight kilometers wide along the West Bank. They said the plan is meant to stop the infiltration of Palestinian laborers and attackers into Israel.

Israel has been plagued by a rash of Palestinian suicide bombings. "We're talking about a new concept," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said. "This is not a security line, but a security strip."

The plans were drafted by the Israeli military and police and the security strip would extend past the 1967 border. Palestinian farmers would be allowed to till their land during the day but would be banned from leaving their villages during the evening.

The security strip, estimated at $250 million, would consist of an electronic fence bolstered by airborne and ground-based systems. Several Israeli contractors, including the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries, Elbit Systems, Ortek, and Rafael, Israel Armament Development Authority, have developed both ground-based and airborne surveillance systems.

Israeli officials said the government had expected U.S. military aid to help pay for the system. But Likud parliamentarians said the Bush administration is linking an Israeli request for $800 million in U.S. aid to a ceasefire against the Palestinians.

The Israel Air Force exercise was conducted over large areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Military sources refused to identify the exercise, but said it would take place over several days and include sonic booms.

The exercise takes place every few years and deploys virtually every aircraft in the air force fleet. The exercise is meant to test the Israeli air force in any war.

Officials said the exercise includes mock attacks of ground targets. This includes the deployment of military trucks that appear to be towing surface-to-surface missiles.

Later this month, Israel will join the United States in a major air exercise in Turkey. The air force will send F-16 jets, AH-64A attack helicopters and C-17 transport jets, and a Boeing 707 refueling jet to the exercise.

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