JERUSALEM -- The United States, Israel, and Egypt are pushing to hold a Mideast peace conference in October to coordinate an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and advance an internationally backed peace plan, officials said Thursday.

The officials said the conference was at the early planning stages and there were obstacles to overcome -- including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's refusal to reform his security forces and corruption-plagued government -- before the details can be finalized.

Arafat is in the most tenuous political position since establishing his Palestinian Authority in 1994. His prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, submitted his resignation Saturday following a wave of kidnappings and mass protests.

Arafat refused to accept the resignation, but Qureia insists he is heading a caretaker government. The Palestinian parliament passed a resolution Wednesday demanding the veteran leader form a new government equipped with powers to provide law and order. Parliament reconvened Thursday to discuss further pressure tactics.

In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is trying to cobble together a coalition government that will back his plan to pullout of the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements by October of next year. Labor Party leader Shimon Peres said Sharon's advisers hinted at talks Wednesday that if his left-center party joins the government the pullout could be implemented more quickly.

Moshe Debi, an adviser to Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, said the sides want to hold the four-way Mideast peace conference -- which would include Palestinian officials -- in New York at the level of foreign ministers.

But an Egyptian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his country preferred to hold the conference in Cairo at the presidential level.

A senior U.S. official, who also asked not to be named, said Washington supports the initiative, which was first proposed by Egypt earlier this month.

The conference would focus on planning between Israel, Egypt, the United States and the Palestinians for "the day after" an Israeli pullout from Gaza, the U.S. official said.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat confirmed the Palestinians had been approached about the idea. He said the conference would also focus on implementation of the so-called road map to peace.

"We welcomed it and we said that we would participate," he said.

Egypt and the United States have been heavily involved in planning and coordinating the planned Gaza pullout. Sharon refuses to directly negotiate the withdrawal with the Palestinians.

Egypt has pledged to train Palestinian security forces ahead of the pullout to ensure a smooth handover, but has demanded Arafat streamline his security forces from 12 to three branches.

Arafat reshuffled the security forces earlier this week following kidnappings and violent protests in the Gaza Strip. But his appointment of an unpopular cousin, Moussa Arafat, to head the forces led to further demonstrations and opposition within his own Fatah movement.

In an attempt to quell the unrest, Arafat again made changes. However, violence spread to the West Bank when gunmen shot an outspoken Arafat critic, former Cabinet minister Nabil Amr, seriously wounding him in the leg.

The shooting infuriated Palestinian lawmakers and ministers, leading to Wednesday's parliament vote. Parliament reconvened Thursday to decide between holding a monthlong strike or a weeklong sit-in in an attempt to force Arafat to accept their demands for reform.

The United States, meanwhile, has made reforms a condition for Palestinian participation in the Mideast peace conference, an Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Israeli officials also said it could be difficult for President Bush to become deeply involved in the Middle East a month before the elections. However, the officials said, if Bush believes it could serve his electoral interests, he might agree to attend a conference on the presidential level.

Meanwhile, a crisis between Israel and the European Union was brewing. Israel is furious at Europe for backing a U.N. resolution calling for Israel to tear down its West Bank barrier. The Foreign Ministry summoned European ambassadors for talks Thursday to inform them of Israel's "disappointment."

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Tuesday calling on Israel to take down its contentious West Bank barrier and comply with a nonbinding ruling issued earlier this month by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.

European Union foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, had photo opportunities and meetings with Israeli government officials canceled Thursday. A meeting and news conference with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was to go ahead as scheduled.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Israel had decided to give Solana an especially "difficult and cold reception" due to its anger at Europe's support of the U.N. vote.

Israel has refused to comply to the world court ruling and the U.N. resolution. Neither of them are legally binding, but both have symbolic significance.

Israel says it needs the West Bank barrier to prevent Palestinian suicide bombers and other attackers from entering its towns and cities. Palestinians say the 425 miles structure of razor wire, concrete walls and trenches is a land grab meant to prevent them from establishing a state in the West Bank and Gaza.