KIRYAT SHMONA, Israel, Aug 24 (AFP) - The Israeli government will complete its preparations for next year's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip by the end of next month, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters on a tour of the northern border with Lebanon, Mofaz said that the withdrawal of settlers and troops next year needed "meticulous planning."
"By the end of September well finish our preparations, which are to be presented to the cabinet and the prime minister," Mofaz said.
"The main points of our policy have already been determined. We are talking about a painful process. We must make meticulous preparations to ensure that it is not be carried out under Palestinian fire."
Mofaz told MPs on Monday that he planned to withdraw the 8,000 Gaza settlers and Jewish residents of four enclaves in the northern West Bank in one go, instead of in phases.
His declaration appeared to fly in the face of a cabinet vote in June in which ministers gave their backing to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan with the proviso that each phase of the evacuation process be subject to a separate vote.
Mofaz also told the MPs that the army and not the police would oversee the pullout operation, which is expected to see all the settlers out of Gaza by September next year. All troops should have left in the following three months.
"We are taking into account a wide range of scenarios. We hope we would not have to face extreme situations in which settlers would harm IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers during the evacuation," he said.