GAZA, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Both the Israelis and the Palestinians have begun to count down on the upcoming Israeli disengagement while challenges of the withdrawal are also mounting.

    According to the disengagement plan, Israel is expected to withdraw from 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in northern West Bank in mid-August for the first time after almost four decades of occupation.

    For Israel's part, it is currently facing challenges posed by protestors and their violent activities against the pullout, which made Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his cabinet members concern about the outcome of the plan.

    In the latest anti-pullout protests, extreme Jewish settlers and right-wing activists launched mass traffic block on the highways and junctions across the country Monday to rally for opposition to the plan.

    Another plan to block dozens more roads and intersections at the evening rush hour Wednesday was also underway.

    Sharon sent a warning to the opponents Tuesday, saying "we all have to remember that the calls to refuse and to disrupt life in Israel endanger the existence of Israel as a Jewish, democratic state," Sharon said.

    The Palestinians, meanwhile, are facing other challenges, such as efforts by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to pursue militant groups to be committed to the current ceasefire with Israel and end the chaos and security deterioration in the territories during and after the withdrawal. 

    After the failed June 21 summit between Sharon and Abbas, it becomes even harder for Abbas to rein in militant groups, or to convince them to continue the current ceasefire and bring them into the Palestinian security apparatuses.

    Palestinian analyst Zakareya al-Qaq said without easing the difficult daily life of the Palestinians, releasing more prisoners from Israeli jails, Israeli withdrawing from Palestinian cities in the West Bank would of course plant more seeds of bloodshed.

    Moreover, Sharon and Abbas hold different views over the Gaza pullout.

    Abbas insists that the Gaza pullout should be the first and last and should be part of the roadmap peace plan, while Sharon requires Abbas dismantle and crack down on militant groups as a condition to implement the agreements they reached at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit in early February and to continue the peace process.

    Tala Qukkal, a Palestinian political analyst based in Gaza said the current situation shows that Israel is not ready at the moment to offer more than a disengagement plan to the Palestinians.

    "Israel would make the Palestinians and the world busy with this step for at least one year before it starts a serious final status talks with the Palestinians," said Qukkal. Enditem