TEL AVIV – Israel's military has been ordered by Prime Minister Sharon to end the demolition of homes in the Palestinian Authority.

Officials said the military, in a revision of policy ordered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, would no longer destroy the homes of Palestinian insurgents. They said the decision was meant to encourage the PA to assume security responsibility in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and outgoing Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon agreed to limit the demolition of Palestinian homes in wake of the election of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, officials said. They said that under the new policy, the military no longer deemed demolitions as vital in deterring Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli civilians, Middle East Newsline reported.

Officials said the policy change was first explored in October 2004 when Ya'alon ordered a feasibility study into the demolition of insurgency homes. The study, conducted by a panel headed by Maj. Gen. Udi Shani, commander of the military's C4I branch, concluded that the demolition of homes failed to achieve deterrence against Palestinian suicide bombings.

"Following the completion of the committee's examination, the defense minister decided to accept the recommendation of the chief of staff to change the policy, and stop exercising the legal right to demolish terrorist houses as a means of deterrence," a military statement said. "In addition, the chief of staff clarified that if an extreme change in circumstances takes place, the aforementioned decision regarding the policy will be reexamined."

The government has reported a sharp drop in Palestinian insurgency attacks in 2004. The biggest decline was in the number of Palestinian suicide bombings against civilian targets in Israel.

During the four-year-old war with the Palestinians, Israel's military cited self-defense as the legal justification for the demolition of the homes of insurgents. The Israeli group B'tselem said Israel has demolished 675 Palestinian homes since 2001, most of them in the Gaza Strip.

"The necessity of this tactic as part of the fight against terror is often reevaluated," the military statement said. "It is done in consideration of the circumstances and assessments regarding the extent of the terror threat and the effectiveness of this serious measure, as well as other measures that may be used as part of the fight against terror."

Officials said the revision in the military's demolition policy would also suspend plans to destroy the homes of additional Palestinian insurgents. They did not say how many homes had been targeted for demolition.

Other measures approved by the military included the return of Palestinians deported from their homes in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip more than two years ago. On Friday, Israel's military told 16 Palestinian deportees that they could leave the Gaza Strip for the West Bank.

On Feb. 20, Israel's Cabinet was scheduled to decide on the withdrawal of the military from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank and the expulsion of its nearly 10,000 residents. Under the proposal, the military would remain along the Egyptian-Gaza border.