Two Israeli children play at a West Bank settlement on March 13. Israeli cabinet affirmed Sunday that it will dismantle 24 illegal West Bank settlement outposts but did not give a deadline. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

    JERUSALEM, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli cabinet affirmed Sunday that it will dismantle 24 illegal West Bank settlement outposts but did not give a deadline, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

    Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying that while Israel is committed to dismantling illegal outposts, he expects the disengagement plan to be implemented first.

    Israel must "reiterate its commitment to removing the illegal outposts and implement that immediately after the disengagement,"Olmert told Army Radio.

    Also on Sunday, the cabinet approved the formation of a special ministerial committee to bar the building of illegal settlement outposts.

    The committee, which is to be headed by Justice Minister TzipiLivni, was passed by a vote of 18 to 1 within the cabinet.

    Livni said the committee would focus on barring the construction of new illegal outposts but would not be responsible for dismantling the existing ones.

    A recent report by attorney Talia Sasson found that there are 105 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank and 24 were established after March 2001 while 71 were established beforehand.

    Sasson was unable to determine when the 10 remaining outposts were established. Enditem