ISRAEL

AP: 120,000 Protest Sharon Settlement 'Evacuation' Plan

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- More than 100,000 settlers and their backers on Sunday protested the Israeli prime minister's plans to evacuate Jewish settlements as part of a peace agreement or a unilateral withdrawal from Palestinian areas.

The demonstrators filled a Tel Aviv square to listen to ministers from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's own Cabinet heap criticism on him. Some threatened to leave the ruling coalition of he carries out the plan.

Sharon has warned that in a peace deal, Israel would not be able to retain all of its settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. He has also said some settlements would be moved if peace efforts collapse and Israel moves unilaterally to draw its own boundary with Palestinian areas.