Quds, March 14, SPA -- Israel's Cabinet on Sunday affirmed it will dismantle 24 illegal West Bank settlement outposts but did not say when they will be removed and evaded a decision on the fate of 81 other such enclaves. The decision fell short of U.S. and Palestinian demands for a speedy dismantling of all outposts, but Cabinet ministers said their removal must wait until after a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer. In their weekly meeting, the ministers discussed a highly critical report that blamed the government for helping to set up and expand a total of 105 such outposts in the past decade. According to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel must remove all the outposts created since March 2001 - 24 according to the outpost report. Seventy-one outposts were built before that date, and in 10 cases it was not clear when they were set up. Palestinians charge that the tiny outposts are the seeds of full-scale settlements meant to carve up the West Bank into cantons and prevent them from creating a state. Palestinians demand removal of all the settlements, new and old.
