Thousands of troops block Gaza withdrawal opponents

Some 20,000 police and soldiers were deployed in southern Israel today to block what was billed as the biggest march yet of Gaza withdrawal opponents – a crucial test run for security forces and protesters ahead of the August pullout.

Organisers said marchers will try to reach the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, even though police declared the demonstration illegal and last week barred non-residents from entering the Gaza settlements.

The frequency of Palestinian attacks from Gaza dipped today after a violent weekend, when more than 100 rockets and mortars were fired at Jewish settlements in Gaza and Israeli towns just outside.

Israel’s vice premier said Israel would not invade Gaza if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas stops the militants.

Settler leaders and police said they expected tens of thousands of participants in the demonstration today, but police were taking steps to limit the number.

The crowd was to assemble in the southern Israeli town of Netivot for the first leg of a three-day march to Gaza, 15 miles away.

Some 12,000 police and 8,000 soldiers were being deployed throughout southern Israel to stop the crowd before it reaches Gaza, said police spokesman Avi Zelba. “It won’t be easy,” Zelba said.

Several hours before the march, police began preventing buses carrying protesters from starting their journey, said Shaul Goldstein, a West Bank settler leader. March organisers called on participants o find other ways of reaching Netivot.

In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, Egyptian mediators held a second day of meetings with leaders of Palestinian militant groups in an effort to rescue a five-month-old truce.

The mediators were delivering a stern message to Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups that the truce deal they agreed to in February does not give them the right to retaliate for perceived Israeli truce violations, participants said. Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders insisted they do have such a right, and it was not clear how the disagreement would be resolved.

Over the weekend, Israeli troops massed outside Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he has given the army a free hand to stop a barrage of Palestinian mortar and rocket fire on Israeli towns. The troop build-up came after six Israelis were killed last week, five in an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing and a Hamas rocket attack.

However, today violence appeared to be ebbing. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has promised to do his best to stop the rocket fire.

Israeli vice premier Ehud Olmert said he hoped Abbas will stop the attacks: “If he will stop it, we will not have to interfere.”

In Gaza violence today, Palestinian medics said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 14-year-old boy near an Israeli settlement. The military said soldiers fired in front of cars trying to run a roadblock but did not see pedestrians there.

Today’s demonstration in Israel, meanwhile, will test the resolve and ability of the security forces to deal with large numbers of protesters – a situation troops will face again in mid-August when they begin removing 9,000 residents from their homes in 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank.

For settler leaders, the march is a show of strength, but also a test of their promise to keep protests non-violent. Some pullout opponents, including hardline politician Arieh Eldad from the opposition National Union Party, called on marchers to carry wire-cutters so they could break through Gaza’s perimeter fence.

In Jerusalem, nearly 100 Gaza pullout opponents waited for buses that never arrived. The buses were not allowed to leave their depots, marchers said. A few dozen protesters began walking in the direction of Gaza, more than 60 miles away.

At the entrance to Jerusalem, police – including some on horseback – held back a crowd of about 100 demonstrators who briefly blocked traffic.

Settler leader Bentsi Lieberman condemned the police decision to outlaw the demonstration as a violation of democratic rights, and said demonstrators would try to reach the Gaza settlements despite the ban.

Police spokesman Zelba said the march had been banned because they want to stop the influx of withdrawal opponents to Gaza, and also due to fear Palestinians will fire mortars and rockets at the demonstrators.

Olmert said the settlers had crossed the boundaries of democratic protest. He said the plan to send thousands of protesters into Gaza is meant “to block the possibility of Israel to carry out its policies, and this is a direct intervention in a political process”.