Defense Minister Amir Peretz does not intend to evacuate unauthorized West Bank settlement outposts in the near future, military sources said Wednesday.

The sources said also that there have not even been serious discussions regarding the imminent evacuation of the outposts.

According to the sources, Peretz does intend to demolish initially a mere 86 illegal West Bank structures, 47 of which were built by settlers and 29 of which were built by Palestinians.

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This plan calls for the demolition of 20 structures in Tel Tawani, near the Maon Farm outpost in the South Hebron Hills, a small number of additional structures in the Yitzhar settlement near Nablus, as well as in Psagot, Efrat, and Kiryat Arba.

Sources in the Defense Minister's Office denied the report, and said in response that Peretz's plan includes the evacuation of entire outposts, and not just individual structures.

Peretz will instruct the Israel Defense Forces to implement the plan once the timeframe he has set aside for talks with settlement leaders expires, the sources said. It is set to expire Monday.

It is believed that Peretz has so far avoided removing entire outposts because he wishes to leave room for negotiations with the settlers, even after the expiration of the official timeframe for talks between the parties.

In recent days, the Defense Ministry and settler leaders have been working on a proposal for voluntary evacuation of certain outposts, in exchange for which the government would grant legal status to those that remain.

However, the parties have yet to reach an agreement over which outposts would be removed, and which would receive legal status.

Amana Settlement Development Agency Secretary General Zeev Hever, Yesha Council of West Bank Settlements Chairman Bentzi Lieberman and Binyamin Regional Council Chairman Pinchas Wallerstein are representing the settler movement, while MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima) is mediating between the settlers and the Defense Ministry.

The Yesha council has in the past expressed a willingness to evacuate some outposts in exchange for the recognition of others, but is demanding among other things that even removed outposts be rebuilt should they receive legal clearance to do so.

Yesha council sources argue that from a legal perspective, almost all of the outposts can be authorized, and that the decision not to do so is entirely political.