Protesters against Gaza pullout look likely to fail

PROTESTERS planning to march into the Gaza strip to demonstrate against the plan to abandon Jewish settlements there last night looked likely to fail.

With a shrinking number of protesters blocked by security forces from marching to the coastal strip to reinforce Jewish settlers there, an Israeli army plan to contain them appeared to have succeeded.

On the third day of the stand-off, some of their leaders admitted defeat in what was to have been the most formidable protest

In Jerusalem, Israel’s parliament delivered another blow to opponents yesterday, overwhelmingly defeating a last-ditch legislative drive to postpone the pullout by a year.

With less than a month to go before the withdrawal gets under way, the once highly organised protest movement is becoming increasingly chaotic and desperate.

The settlers, once a powerful political force, find themselves marginalised, said Nahum Barnea, a columnist for the Yediot Ahronot daily.

“They are emotionally very, very frustrated. They don’t know what to do,” he said.

Protesters have been trying everything to torpedo the pullout.

Some are smuggling reinforcements into the Gaza settlement and building tent camps to hold them. Others are trying to persuade police to disobey orders to remove settlers from their homes. Yet others push and shove those same police, believing the government will only respond to force.

The upcoming withdrawal has also fuelled clashes between Hamas militants and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah faction, as the militants vie for control of Gaza ahead of the pullout.

Overnight, Hamas and Fatah agreed to remove their gunmen from the streets of northern Gaza, where gunfights, acts of arson and clashes erupted over the past few days.

Barely two hours later, Hamas gunmen refused to stop at a Palestinian police roadblock in Gaza, and then opened fire on the homes of Palestinian police chief, Rashid Abu Shbak, and Fatah leader Abdullah Franji, said Soufian Abu Zaida, a Cabinet minister and top Fatah official.

Mr Abu Zaida played down the incident, saying the situation was under control.