Israeli officials have ordered settlers to leave six unauthorised West Bank settlement outposts by Thursday afternoon, saying that if they stay the military will forcibly remove them, according to the Defence Ministry.
The deadline was set after the settlers exhausted their appeals of an initial government order. However, security officials said soldiers would not be sent to dismantle the outposts before next week.
The United States-backed road map peace plan requires Israel to dismantle dozens of the outposts dotting hillsides across the West Bank.
Palestinians see them as seeds of Jewish settlements on land they claim for a future state.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to take down unauthorised outposts — though his definition is unclear — and so far has removed only a few. The road map also requires Palestinians to dismantle militant groups, which they have yet to do as well.
The targeted outposts are Hazon David, Tal Binyamin, Bat Ayin Maarav Maarav, Ginot Aryeh, Havat Shaked and Havat Maon.
The Peace Now monitoring group reported last month that there are 102 outposts, many of which are supposed to be removed under the road map. The plan also calls for a complete freeze on settlement expansion.
Last month, Peace Now reported that three outposts had been built since the road map was launched last June, 12 existing outposts had been connected to the Israeli electricity system and eight received paved roads. Fifteen outposts started building permanent homes and several more have made ”significant extensions”, the group said.
The road map, meant to lead to an independent Palestinian state by next year, has been stalled for months due to violations by both sides. — Sapa-AP