Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Wednesday that the disputed building in the West Bank city of Hebron could not be evacuated immediately. The attorney general said that during a debate on the matter Tuesday at his office, he had approved a process of evacuation according to which the settlers would be able to petition the High Court of Justice against the eviction.

According to Mazuz, the settlers' inhabitance of the house - which they claim to own - cannot be defined as "invasion" and is therefore not subject to immediate eviction.

During the meeting, it became clear that it would be impossible to evacuate the house immediately - as suggested by Defense Minister Amir Peretz - because the settlers are in possession of ownership documents testifying to their purchase of the house from its former owners.

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Mazuz also ruled out issuing an evacuation order under the category of "immediate military needs" because the Israel Defense Forces has said that the settlers do not present an immediate security disturbance.

In the end, he ordered a third process of eviction, based on the fact that even if the house was legally acquired, the settlers still required permission from the IDF's Civil Administration to inhabit it.

According to the Civil Administration's order No. 25, all real estate deals in the West Bank require the administration's permission to be put into effect. The settlers in the Hebron house requested permission only on the day they entered, and were not granted their request.

Still, the attorney general said that the settlers have the right to a hearing, to appeal the eviction order, and to submit a petition to the High Court of Justice before the evacuation is implemented. Therefore, it will not be possible to evict them within the next two weeks.

Settlers to have 30 days to clear house
Settlers will be given 30 days to voluntarily leave the disputed building, which they occupied three weeks ago. If they do not clear by the allotted time, they will be evacuated by force.

The Defense Ministry has not released a timetable for the evacuation, but Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said Wednesday that the legal process will allow the settlers 15 days to leave voluntarily, followed by a 15-day extension.

Civil Administration officials are expected to distribute evacuation orders to the settlers on Wednesday, after Peretz on Tuesday officially instructed the the IDF to evacuate the building.

The order was given to the coordinator of operations in the West Bank, Major General Yosef Mishlev.

Peretz's decision comes after receiving the opinion of the attorney general, who authorized the evacuation on the justification that the structure was inhabited without the permission of the defense minister, as required by law.

The settlers moved into the house in an Arab neighborhood of Hebron on March 19, claiming to have purchased it from its Palestinians owners.

Tourism Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beiteinu) on Wednesday said that if the disputed building was purchased legally, its buyers must be allowed to stay and must not be evicted.

Aharonovich also said, however, that the state must look into whether there is a security risk in allowing the settlers to stay.

On the opposing side, Construction and Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit on Wednesday said the settlers must be evicted from the disputed building if they were not authorized by the authorities to enter it.

Sheetrit also criticized the state's "foot-dragging" in evacuating outposts, saying it was "severely harming the rule of law in Israel, thus harming us internationally."

Officials said last week that the question of the legality of the purchase is irrelevant, since the settlers did not ask for approval to inhabit the property as they should have according to the regulations, the official said.

They added that Peretz had expressed opposition to the settlers' assumption of the house numerous times in recent weeks, but had not ordered action.

Although the decision for evacuation officially falls under the defense minister's portfolio, Peretz will likely need to coordinate the evacuation process with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

In a text message sent to journalists, the Yesha Council of Settlements, which represents the settlers, said last week that it would fight the decision.

Hebron, a frequent flashpoint for tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, is home to about 500 Jewish settlers living in heavily-guarded enclaves among some 160,000 Palestinians.