The huge map, which the source described as several metres (yards) square, was shown to MPs at the foreign affairs and defence committee.

Military officials asked the MPs to keep the exact content of the classified map out of the public domain.

The source said the army is planning to dismantle 28 of these wildcat settlements, many of which are little more than a caravan perched on a hilltop.

So far, however, the government has authorised the removal of only nine, three of which were signed off on Sunday by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz.

Until now, not a single outpost has been removed, largely because of a rush of appeals to the supreme court.

Deputy defence minister Zeev Boim last week put the total number of wildcat outposts in the West Bank at 28.

In December, the anti-settlement movement Peace Now counted 103 "illegal outposts" in the West Bank, of which 56 have sprung up since Sharon came to power in March 2001.

Under the first phase of the peace roadmap, Israel is required to freeze all Jewish settlement activity in the occupied territories and dismantle unauthorised outposts set up since Sharon came to power in March 2001.

Late last month, the interior ministry published statistics showing the population of Jewish settlements in the occupied territories minus east Jerusalem had grown by 16 percent since Sharon came to power to 236,000.

The international community views all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, whether government-approved or not, as illegal.

WAR.WIRE