Israelis seal off Gaza Strip

Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip today and imposed the most sweeping travel restrictions in years, as US Secretary of State Colin Powell ended his Mideast peace mission with little to show for it.

He had called on the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to take action on the so-called “road map” to peace, but his visit ended without any visible results.

The Palestinians are expected to stop militant attacks, and Israel is expected to ease restrictions that have caused great hardship in the Palestinian areas.

But Palestinian leaders said they were disappointed Powell had failed to prod Israel into accepting the three stage, three year “road map”.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has expressed major reservations with the plan, and was to air them next week when he meets US President George Bush.

Before leaving for Washington, Sharon was to hold talks with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in what would be the highest level Israeli-Palestinian talks in almost three years.

Yesterday, as Powell separately met Sharon and Abbas, Israel lifted a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, allowing several thousands Palestinians to return to jobs in Israel, while continuing to enforce travel restrictions between towns.

However, the military closed Gaza again early today, citing unspecified security considerations.

It barred Palestinians and all foreigners, with the exception of diplomats, from leaving and entering the coastal strip.

The open-ended travel ban marks the first time in years that foreign nationals, including journalists, are being kept out of Gaza for an extended period.

“We have never seen anything like this,” said Paul McCann, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which assists hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

McCann said UNRWA’s operations were being hampered considerably: “This morning, we could not even get our diplomatic pouch out,” he said.

The restrictions were imposed three days after the military announced that foreigners must sign security waivers as they enter Gaza and promise to stay away from ”combat areas”.

Human rights groups have accused the army of trying to prevent monitoring of Israel military actions against the Palestinians.

In tightening restrictions, the military also referred specifically to keeping out members of the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that has sent foreign volunteers to trouble spots to serve as buffers between troops and Palestinian civilians.

Dozens of activists have been deported by Israel.

In a pre-dawn incursion Monday, Israeli troops backed by tanks and helicopters raided the Gaza town of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, demolishing five buildings it said housed entrances to tunnels used for smuggling in arms.

In an ensuing firefight, soldiers shot dead two Palestinian gunmen, Palestinian security sources said.

The army withdrew after almost two hours. The army said the two men were killed as they planted bombs near Israeli troops.

In nearby Khan Younis, troops shot dead a Palestinian farmworker as he tilled a field near an Israeli army lookout post, witnesses said. The military had no comment.