TEL AVIV, May 27: Bowing to hardline ministers opposed to his Gaza Strip pullout plan, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed on Thursday to a cut-down version that starts by removing just three of 21 settlements.

The changes mean a climbdown for Mr Sharon, but would not be as humiliating as defeat in a cabinet vote on the project set for Sunday - four weeks after the right-wing Likud party defeated his US-backed initiative in a referendum.

Since then, he has sought a way to push through some form of his plan to "disengage" from conflict with the Palestinians. Pressure to act has grown during the bloodiest month in Gaza since Israel captured it in the 1967 war. At least 90 Palestinians and 18 Israelis have been killed while the Jewish state faced world outrage for the army's action.

Senior officials said Mr Sharon agreed to submit the reduced pullout plan after meetings with key Likud ministers, including his influential rival and Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, before Sunday's cabinet vote.

It would mean evacuating just the three settlements of Morag, Rafiah Yam and Netzarim - particularly hard-to-defend outposts in the sandy territory where 7,500 Jews live alongside more than 1.3 million Palestinians. -Reuters