JERUSALEM, Oct 11 (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon moved Monday to accelerate his plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip by announcing that a parliamentary vote on the controversial project would take place in two weeks.
As Israeli troops were ordered to push on with their deadly offensive in the territory, despite the reservations of army chiefs, Sharon brought forward the crunch vote in the Knesset where he currently lacks a majority.
"I am going to submit my plan for debate and a vote in the Knesset in two weeks only, on October 25," Sharon told MPs on the opening day of the winter session of parliament.
The announcement means MPs will give their verdict on his disengagement plan just a day after a cabinet vote. Sharon had previously indicated he would put the issue to a vote in the 120-seat parliament on November 3.
The prime minister invited parliament "to register" his policy address, but in an early slap in the face for the Gaza plan the speech was rejected by a margin of 53 to 44, in a non-binding vote.
Opposition Labour party chief Shimon Peres asked his camp to approve the speech, but only a part of his parliamentary group fell in line.
The announcement of an October 25 vote represents a significant gamble by Sharon who lost his parliamentary majority after traditional allies quit or were sacked from the coalition in June.
Sharon`s plan, enthusiastically endorsed by Washington, will see Israel pull all its troops and the 8,000 Jewish settlers in Gaza out of the territory next year.
It also envisages a strengthening of control over larger West Bank settlements.
In his address to parliament, Sharon also pledged his support for the floundering Middle East roadmap peace plan. "We are still committed towards the roadmap," he said, urging the Palestinians to "renounce terrorism".
His comments come after one of his senior advisors said last week that the Gaza plan was a deliberate attempt to undermine the roadmap`s promise of Palestinian statehood next year.
But Sharon also ruled out any prospect of an immediate resumption in negotiations with the Palestinian leadership, which have been frozen for more than a year.
The Palestinian Authority was unimpressed by Sharon`s declarations. "What Israel is doing on the ground is contrary to the roadmap and is an act of sabotage," negotiations minister Saeb Erakat told AFP.
A total of 111 Palestinians have now been killed in Gaza since the deadliest ever Israeli offensive in the territory was launched on September 28.
Reports Monday said that senior officers had told Sharon that Operation Days of Penitence had now met its main objective and managed to halt Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel.
But Sharon, keen to deliver a decisive blow to Gaza-based militant factions before next year`s planned pullout, told top brass that they must push on with the operation, according to Israeli public radio and the Haaretz newspaper.
Much of the operation has been centered around the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north of the territory.
But Haaretz cited senior officers as saying troops were being exposed to an unnecessarily high risk by remaining in the densely populated camp and that rocket launchers had also been moved from Jabaliya.
The latest Palestinian victim, 24-year-old Maher Khamash, was killed Monday when troops opened fire as tanks rolled into the town of Deir al-Balah in the centre of the territory.
EU foreign ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, condemned Palestinian rocket attacks on the Jewish state but said that Israel`s military riposte in Gaza was "disproportionate".
In a statement, they "called upon both parties to end the spiral of violence and to implement their obligations" to the roadmap.
The ministers) "condemned the disproportionate nature of the Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip. These actions have claimed the lives of many innocent civilians, including children, and left many injured".