Israel will withdraw from the Gaza Strip by October 1st, 2005, under a timetable drawn up by a governmental committee preparing to evacuate settlers and soldiers from the area.
Settlers would be allowed to start voluntarily leaving the Gaza Strip from August this year until September 1st, 2005, when the stage for settlers to voluntarily leave their homes in Gaza in return for compensation would end, Israeli army radio reported today.
"After September 1st until September 15th the Israeli army will enter Gaza and evacuate the settlers by force," the radio said.
"September 15th is described according to this document as the end of the evacuation of the civilian population. The end of the military in the area 15 days after that," it said.
The radio quoted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office as saying he had not yet approved the timetable.
Israel's government voted in favour of a plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip earlier this week. But it did not approve the evacuation of Jewish settlements, delaying a vote on the highly charge issue until as late as early next year.
Facing intense opposition from right-wingers in his Likud party to abandon the plan or water it down, Mr Sharon will need the next few months to stabilise his coalition and possibly bring the centre-left Labour Party into his government.
Around 7,800 settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians in the impoverished coastal strip that was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.