ISRAEL: Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, provided another signal yesterday that he is serious about forging ahead with his Gaza withdrawal plan despite strong opposition within his own ruling Likud party.
He told cabinet ministers he supported the idea of evacuating all settlements in the strip in a single move, rather than in three phases, as decided by the government earlier this year.
The security cabinet rejected Mr Sharon's bid to alter the government decision, but the Israeli leader nevertheless said he planned today to present his parliamentary faction with a clear timetable for cabinet and parliamentary votes on his plan to dismantle all 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank by the end of next year.
"The Prime Minister made it clear that he is moving one step ahead with his determination to implement the disengagement plan," said Mr Raanan Gissin, an aide to Mr Sharon.
Mr Sharon who lost his parliamentary majority after the government voted in favour of his plan on June 6th, said he planned "to remove the doubt of the doubters".
In its decision, the government said the unilateral disengagement plan, as it has become known, would be carried out in phases, and that each phase would require governmental approval.
Mr Sharon apparently fears a phased withdrawal would take months and would enable his opponents, especially the settlers, an extended period in which to frustrate his plan.
In response to ministers who yesterday criticised his shift in position, Mr Sharon said that even if they insisted on government approval for each stage of the withdrawal, he could simply hold a vote on the first stage on a Sunday, on the second stage on Monday, and so on.
"Nothing can stop me," he said.
German Foreign Minister Mr Joschka Fischer, who is visiting Israel, said yesterday that he backed the Gaza withdrawal plan if it was followed by a similar pullback in the West Bank.
Such a move, he said, "would lead to a breakthrough, and we in Germany and the EU are ready to engage ourselves."
Palestinian medics yesterday reported that a man was shot dead by soldiers near the Gaza settlement of Morag. The army said troops opened fire at the man as he crawled toward the settlement, and that he was likely trying to detonate an explosive device there.