By Dan Williams
Jerusalem - Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in a sweep for militants in Gaza on Sunday hours before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to seek support from his party's cabinet ministers for a pullout from most of the strip.
Violence such as the predawn raid on Abassan village, which medics said also wounded at least 10 Palestinians, has stalled a US-backed peace "road map".
Sharon wants US President George Bush to endorse his go-it-alone plan as an alternative at a widely expected meeting in Washington later this month. But Sharon faces strong opposition to the proposal within his right-wing Likud party.
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