Peres says Gaza withdrawal will be delayed
Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres said today the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would not start, as initially planned, in the second half of July.
Peres spoke a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said during an official visit to Mauritania that Israel’s withdrawal will be postponed to mid-August.
Asked about Shalom’s comment, Peres said: “Well, it (the withdrawal) will be delayed because of the holidays.” Peres apparently was referring to Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the biblical Jewish Temple.
This year, Tisha B’Av falls on August 14, and it has been proposed to begin evacuating Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip a day later.
The government is to make a final decision on the proposed delay in coming days.
