Sharon postpones Gaza pull-out for one month

Israel’s evacuation of 21 Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip will begin in mid-August, a month later than planned, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today, citing a religious mourning period but raising doubts about Israel’s readiness for the evacuation and even its resolve in carrying it out.

Sharon told TV interviewers he was taking into account a request from Israel’s chief rabbis to put off the evacuation until after a three-week period in which Jews mourn the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem, ending with a one-day fast – falling this year on August 14.