Sharon postpones Gaza pullout
2005-04-18 21:55
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon confirmed on Monday that he was postponing the start of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled for July 20, by three weeks on religious grounds.
"We need to do everything to make the evacuation easier and to allow settlers to overcome the crisis of disengagement.
"These, effectively, are to be difficult days in the history of the Jewish people," he told reporters.
Sharon was referring to the need to allow the settlers mourn the destruction of the second Jewish Temple.
The day to commemorate the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem in 70 AD falls this year on August 14.
The three week postponement means that the month-long operation should now get underway on August 15.
- AFP