Gaza protest 'a long struggle'

2005-07-20 12:24

Kfar Maimon - Thousands of ultra-nationalist opponents of Israel's pullout from Gaza continued for a third day on Wednesday a stand-off with police and soldiers who have stopped them from marching on the territory.

Under massive security, all access to the small town of Kfar Maimon has been sealed off to prevent new demonstrators from arriving, albeit allowing tired protestors to return home.

The main settlers' lobby that organised the demonstration said the bulk of the rally would break up later in the day, leaving a kernel of "several thousand" hardcore protestors determined to reach the Gaza settlements.

"We never intended to stay longer than Wednesday, because most of the demonstrators came with their families and need to get back to their jobs and homes," Yesha spokesperson Emilie Amaroussi told AFP.

A Yesha leader said demonstrators were still determined to reach doomed Jewish settlements in the occupied Gaza Strip that were last week declared a military zone closed to public access.

"We know that the path is a long one. It will take as long as it takes, but we are fixed on an extended struggle," Pinhas Wallerstein told public radio.

The rally represents one of the last shows of strength by opponents of next month's pullout from Gaza and four small West Bank settlements - a plan that has overcome all parliamentary and legal hurdles.

Senior police officer Kobi Cohen said around half the protestors had drifted away overnight, leaving around 10 000 right-wing activists.

Eighteen demonstrators were arrested on Tuesday, with security forces under strict orders to prevent protestors from reaching the border crossing and forcing their way into the main Jewish settlement bloc of Gush Katif.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has instructed the forces to allow no one further towards Gaza than Kfar Maimon.

Israel's parliament was later on Wednesday set to throw out another bill calling for a one-year delay to disengagement.

- AFP