Several illegal outposts will be evacuated in the next few days, under an agreement reached between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and settler leaders. This is the first stage of dismantling 26 outposts built on private Palestinian land after March 2001.
Israel had promised the United States that it would evacuate these outposts to meet the conditions of the first stage of the diplomatic road map leading to a final-status agreement with the Palestinians.
The evacuation agreement was reached after prolonged covert negotiations between the Yesha settlers' council and Barak and his adviser for settlement affairs Eitan Broshi.
It is based on relocating the West Bank outposts into either the large settlement blocs or in settlements near Jerusalem, under the assumption that these will remain in Israeli hands after a final-status arrangement.
The first three or four outposts will be evacuated voluntarily and relocated to other settlements nearby, as long as this does not contradict the prime minister's instructions restricting construction in the territories. The evacuated settlers will receive no compensation.
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