RAMALLAH, West Bank ? After days of bitter quarreling with Yasser Arafat, interim Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Sunday he intended to give up his post in the coming weeks, dampening hopes of reviving a stalled U.S.-backed peace plan.

Still, Qureia’s threat left open the possibility a deal could be worked out to keep him in office.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said it withdrew some troops from the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, where it fought Palestinians for two days while searching for weapons-smuggling tunnels. Eight Palestinians were killed, and local residents reported the army destroyed 100 homes.

Arafat and Qureia disagree about the amount of control the Palestinian leader will retain over Palestinian armed forces, as well as procedural and personal issues.

Israel and the United States insist Arafat hand over authority, charging he is tainted by terrorism. Palestinians deny that and say Arafat is their elected president — although the term he won in 1996 has expired.

Qureia currently leads an emergency Cabinet that Arafat appointed by decree a week ago. When that Cabinet’s term expires in three weeks, Qureia was set to form a more permanent government subject to approval by Palestinian legislators.

But Qureia said after Sunday’s meeting of the central committee of Arafat’s ruling Fatah party that a new government would be formed in about three weeks “with a new prime minister, too.”

Some observers viewed that statement as one of frustration. If Qureia quits, he would be the second prime minister in five weeks to resign for disputes with Arafat, casting doubt on whether Arafat would ever allow a premier to succeed.

The new office of prime minister was created by the Palestinian Authority earlier this year under pressure from the United States and Israel — who sought to marginalize Arafat and create a new, more acceptable negotiating partner for Israel.

The United States hoped the prime minister would enact the “road map” peace plan, which envisions an end to Israeli-Palestinian violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

But the first man Arafat appointed premier, Mahmoud Abbas, lasted only four months in office, resigning Sept. 6.