Israel's Supreme Court today threw out a bid by rightist Jewish settlers to bar legislation that cleared the way to a withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip later this year.
It was a further setback for settlers waging a rearguard battle against evacuation after losing their last political option when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pushed the 2005 budget through parliament in a victory over foes of his pullout plan.
"After a review of the material, we determine by majority opinion that there is no room to issue the interim injunctions that have been sought," the court said in the text of its decision.
The court rebuffed eight petitions against the Evacuation Compensation bill that parliament ratified in February. The legislation effectively gave the government the go-ahead to proceed with the pullout, due to start on July 20th, and provide payments to the 8,500 Israelis slated to lose their homes in 21 Jewish settlements built on occupied land.
Mr Sharon's move to "disengage" from conflict with Palestinians is seen as a catalyst for reviving a US-backed "road map" to peace.
But he said today he is considering delaying the withdrawal by three weeks after a top official said settlers shouldn't be moved during a Jewish mourning period that marks the destruction of two biblical temples. Mr Sharon was keen not to offend religious sensibilities that could further inflame settlers facing evacuation, aides said.
But Palestinians fear further Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank could torpedo their hopes for a viable state.
Israeli government officials confirmed Israel is planning to build 50 new homes in a West Bank settlement, a week after US President George Bush demanded a freeze on such construction.
Israel's religious right has condemned the pullout plan as a "reward to Palestinian terrorism" and claims the Bible gives the Jewish people the right to all of Gaza and the West Bank, both captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
Mr Sharon, backed by most Israelis in polls, regards tiny, impoverished Gaza as a bloody quagmire without strategic value.