Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has failed to persuade his security cabinet to speed up a Gaza withdrawal agreed in principle by the government two months ago.
In a sign of internal political opposition Sharon faces over his plan to pull Israeli settlers and soldiers out of Gaza by the end of 2005, hardliners in the security cabinet resisted his call to evacuate them in one fell swoop, political sources said.
The government decided in June that a Gaza pullout would be made in four stages, with separate cabinet votes required at each phase before settlements are removed.
But Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, with Mr Sharon's backing, has been pushing to evacuate settlements all at once to reduce the prospect of prolonged clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians, as well as with any settlers who refuse to go.
Agreeing to Mr Mofaz's proposal to have police remove settlers in operations supervised by the military, the security cabinet decided against changing the original plan to pull out in stages, the sources said.
Despite the setback, the sources said Mr Sharon intends to present to lawmakers from his Likud party tomorrow a timetable for taking key decisions that would put the Gaza withdrawal in motion.
Mr Sharon, the sources added, was determined to pursue "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians even after being shot down by Likud's executive body in his bid for a broader coalition capable of guaranteeing the plan's passage.
Likud's hardline Central Committee voted to bar Mr Sharon from allying with the opposition centre-left Labour, which favours ceding occupied land to foster peace with Palestinians.
Mr Sharon wants to evacuate 8,000 settlers next year from 21 enclaves in tiny Gaza, where 1.3 million Palestinians also live.
His blueprint also entails keeping Israeli control over an arc of larger settlements in the West Bank that he considers a strategic bulwark of the Jewish state.
Palestinians, in revolt against Israeli occupation since September 2000, welcome any pullback but object to Sharon's intention to hold on to large settlement blocs in the West Bank, also built on land they want for a future state.
In fresh violence, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian near the Jewish settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said. The army had no immediate comment.