JERUSALEM, Aug 30: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon failed on Monday 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 Mr Sharon faces over his plan to pull Israeli settlers and soldiers out of Gaza by the end of next year, hardliners in the cabinet resisted his call to evacuate them in one fell swoop, 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 soldiers 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.

"It's possible to carry out a phased withdrawal - settlements will be removed on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," Mr Sharon quipped after several ministers voiced their opposition to amending the June decision, one source said.

Despite the setback, the sources said Mr Sharon intends to present to lawmakers from his Likud party on Tuesday 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 earlier this month voted to bar Mr Sharon from allying with the opposition centre-left Labour, which favours ceding occupied land to foster peace with Palestinians.

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.

UNFAZED SHARON: The former general, whose partial reversal from decades of promoting Jewish settlement on occupied land shocked his party but enjoys big support in opinion polls, made clear to his cabinet on Monday he was unfazed by the Likud rebellion.