Jerusalem ? Israeli hard-liners vowed Saturday to block a U.S.-backed “road map” for Middle East peace, with one member of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s party calling it “the most dangerous” peace plan ever presented.

The prime minister was expected to ask his 23-member Cabinet today to back the plan, and — despite the resistance — Sharon aides were confident of winning approval.

Sharon himself was reluctant to embrace the three-stage prescription for setting up a Palestinian state by 2005, and did so Friday only after Washington assured him publicly it would take into account a list of Israeli objections.

For their part, Palestinian leaders said Saturday they expected Washington to keep its promise to them that the road map would not be changed to accommodate Israel, though they welcomed Sharon’s acceptance of the deal.

The Palestinians accepted the road map proposals last month, and U.S. officials said Friday that their reservations also would be taken into account.

The plan’s first phase calls for Palestinians to rein in militants and Israeli troops to withdraw from Palestinian towns.

Violence continued amid the negotiations for a settlement, with Palestinians killed by army fire in the Gaza Strip, one late Friday and the other, Saturday. Israeli troops also raided the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank and a house in the city of Hebron, arresting several suspected militants.

Militias have told Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas they would halt attacks on Israeli civilians only if Israel calls off military strikes. Israel has said it would call off strikes only if Palestinians act first to crack down on militias.

Sharon faces strong opposition to the plan within his four-party coalition, consisting of his own Likud party, the moderate Shinui and two pro-settler blocs, the National Union and the National Religious Party.

The road map incorporates a previous proposal by Saudi Arabia that envisions Israeli withdrawal from territory it captured in the 1967 Mideast war — the West bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and east Jerusalem — and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem, all anathema to the Israeli right.

Israel has declared sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, where Palestinians make up about one-third of the population of 600,000.