Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to forge ahead with his embattled plan to pull Israeli soldiers and settlers out of the Gaza Strip next year ignoring boos and catcalls from members of his own party. Sharon's mere mention of the term "disengagement plan" at a Likud Party convention on Tuesday set off several minutes of boos and catcalls. Sharon's party has voted against the pullout twice in different frameworks, but Sharon was adamant. Facing down the noisy protest, he said, "The disengagement plan has started on its way, and it will be carried out exactly according to the timetable approved by the Cabinet."

Sharon lost his parliamentary majority over his plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank next year. His own party and its traditional supporters, settlers and their backers, rebelled, and pro-settler Cabinet ministers quit his coalition. In May, Likud members voted the plan down in a non-binding referendum, and a few weeks later, a Likud convention vetoed Sharon's plan to add the moderate Labour Party to his coalition - another blow to the pullout plan. Sharon has said the pullout would reduce friction with the Palestinians and head off international peace initiatives. In his speech before the Likud gathering on Tuesday, he said, "Israel is today the initiator, and in the absence of a partner we will act to change the political situation in Israel's favor."

Sharon calls his plan "unilateral disengagement," refusing to negotiate with the Palestinian leadership, charging that Yasser Arafat's administration is involved in terrorism. Settlers have organized protests against the pullout, forming a "human chain" on August 25, stretching 90 kilometers from Gaza to Jerusalem. The government is poised to give advance payments to settlers who agree to leave before the government deadline sometime next year, and officials assume that many of the 8,500 settlers will accept the offer. In their latest move, settlers on Tuesday asked the Israeli Supreme Court to stop the advance payments. The suit by the Gaza Coast Regional Council said the government could not use public funds for the advances without proper legislation. Government officials played down the lawsuit, saying they did not expect it to cause significant delays.

Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian official called for action to back up operative parts of US President George W Bush's speech at the UN General Assembly, but objected to Bush's criticism of the Palestinian leadership. Bush called on Israel to stop settlement construction, dismantle unauthorized outposts in the West Bank and "end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people." Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Bush should enforce these calls, "because the only thing that is growing on the ground now is settlements and the daily humiliation of the Palestinians." However, Erekat took issue with a Bush implication that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's administration should be replaced. "The Palestinian leadership is an elected leadership," he said.

Without naming Arafat, Bush said, "Peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers who intimidate opposition, tolerate corruption, and maintain ties to terrorist groups," adding, "world leaders should withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause." An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush's speech resembled earlier pronouncements. He said the disengagement plan "would allow Palestinians to live freely without checkpoints."

Palestinian militants fired several homemade rockets at the Israeli town of Sderot just outside Gaza on Tuesday. No one was hurt. This week Israeli officials said an early warning system was in place in the town to give residents about 20 seconds warning before a rocket lands, but residents complained that the system did not work. The military said the system was "in place for operational and technical testing," and a decision would be made later about whether to put it into use.

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