Israel vows to dismantle illegal settlements

Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer vowed to dismantle 20 illegal settlements in the West Bank, even if he has to send in troops to remove the settlers by force.

Ben-Eliezer said last night that he had identified the outposts that need to be dismantled most urgently.

"There are always two options," he said. "Either the settlers leave willingly the moment they understand that the decision is firm, or the army will remove them."

The Defence Ministry must approve any new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The illegal outposts never received official approval.

The government will negotiate with the YESHA Council, which represents most of the 200,000 settlers living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The 20 settlements the minister talked about were not identified.

Former Israeli premier Ehud Barak reached an agreement with the council in 1999 to dismantle several illegal outposts.

But more than 100 settlers at a small ranch called Havat Maon refused to leave and soldiers had to remove them, dragging and carrying them onto buses and using bulldozers to destroy their wooden homes.