Mofaz decided "that with the exception of two (uninhabited) sites, there will be no dismantling until the status of these points is clarified", a ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

She stressed however that in the end, "all the illegal settlements will be dismantled."

A week ago, the army eliminated one such point, an uninhabited house trailer near Hebron in the southern West Bank.

A similar settlements nearby is also slated for dismantlement, the spokeswoman said.

Razing unauthorized settlements and a freeze on further construction are two conditions Israel is expected to respect as initial steps in the Middle East "roadmap" to peace drawn up by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.

The plan, presented to Israeli and Palestinian officials last week, foresees security guarantees for Israel along with the step-by-step creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.

All Israeli settlements since March 2001, when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government took office, are to be immediately dismantled under the plan.

Peace Now, an Israeli movement opposed to the settlements, says 34 such sites have been established since that time.

Earlier Monday, Sharon pledged not to miss the chance to make peace with the Palestinians, at a ceremony for soldiers who have fallen in wars since Israel was founded in 1948.

Over the past five years however, 108 colonisation sites have been established, including sites presented as farms, or extensions of existing colonies which were approved by Israeli authorities.

In October, the Israeli army clashed with hundreds of settlers while tearing down part of an illegal colony in the West Bank town of Havat Gilad, which has been rebuilt since.

Roughly 220,000 settlers inhabit around 160 sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in addition to 200,000 other Israelis in 12 sites in annexed East Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967.

SPACE.WIRE