Israeli security forces clashed with hundreds of opponents of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip today, arresting at least 50 people in the roughest confrontation between troops and settlers since the start of the operation.

A major Palestinian militant group today declared it would fire no more rockets during Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, after a deadly barrage inadvertently killed a three-year-old Palestinian boy.

A Jewish settler leader in the Gaza Strip said today that settlers would comply with a Defence Ministry order to return army-issue weapons to the military, defusing a potentially serious problem ahead of this summer’s planned Israeli evacuation of the volatile territory.

HAMAS threatened revenge yesterday after an Israeli helicopter blew up a car on a busy Gaza City street, killing a Hamas militant who was involved in making and firing rockets at Israeli towns.