Amid fears of violent Jewish settlers resistance, an Israeli defense official has said that the evacuation of illegal outposts in the West Bank will likely take place after the school year begins in September.

"There are a lot of children and teenagers on vacation now who can reinforce the outposts and make their evacuation much more difficult," the official was quoted by local daily The Jerusalem Post as explaining Wednesday.

"The ideal time for an evacuation would be from once the school year begins and until the Jewish holiday season, when everyone is on vacation," added the official.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is currently on vacation abroad, is scheduled to return over the weekend and begin to hold consultations on setting a time for such an operation.

Barak, the official said, planned to hold talks with settler leaders upon his return with the aim of convincing them of voluntarily evacuating some of the outposts.

According to the official, the evacuation of the 26 illegal outposts would likely span a number of days since they were spread out throughout the West Bank and a one-day evacuation would require almost the entire police force and a significant portion of the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel has repeatedly promised the United States to dismantle the outposts as a confidence-building move for the unwieldy peace process with the Palestinians. However, settlement and outpost evacuation is a sensitive issue among the Israeli public, and such moves often meet with violent resistance.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2009)