Israeli security forces clashed early yesterday with Jewish settlers trying to break a blockade placed on Gaza Strip settlements, a preview to confrontations expected later in the day when opponents to a planned withdrawal from Gaza try to march to the coastal area despite a police ban.
The two days of clashes at the crossing point between Jewish settlers and police are expected to get worse when security forces enter the Gaza Strip in mid-August to evacuate 8,500 settlers. In early September the army will remove another 500 settlers from four West Bank settlements.
Some 20,000 police and soldiers were deployed throughout southern Israel later yesterday to prevent an estimated 50,000 Gaza pullout opponents from marching toward the Gaza Strip settlements, said Avi Zilber, a police spokesman.
Protesters plan to march about 8km daily until Wednesday when they reach the Gaza Strip. But police said the crowd would not be allowed to leave the town of Netivot -- where the march is to begin.
Settler leader Bentsi Lieberman condemned the police decision as a violation of democratic rights. He denied marchers would cut through the perimeter fence around the Gaza settlements.
But some pullout opponents -- including a hard-line lawmaker -- called on marchers to carry wire-cutters with them so they could break into the Gaza settlement bloc of Gush Katif.
"We are planning to carry out this big ... march to Gush Katif," Lieberman insisted.
Police banned the march because they don't want protesters to enter the Gaza settlements, and also due to fear Palestinians will fire mortars and rockets at the demonstrators, Zilber said.
Security officials presented Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra early yesterday with operational plans for preventing the march, Zilber said. Israeli radios reported roadblocks would be set up along the 25km stretch between Netivot and Gaza.
"It won't be easy," Zilber said of the security forces' goal of stopping the march.
Ezra warned yesterday's demonstration could become violent unless organizers prevented the marchers from breaking the law.
"There will be a clash between them [the protesters] and the security forces," Ezra told Israel Radio. "I really hope that things will end in such a way that no one will regret they attended this march."
The army barred non-residents from entering the Gaza Strip settlements last week, partly to prevent protesters from reaching the area. Settler leaders organizing the march said their goal was to enter the settlements and remain there until the evacuation in an attempt to sabotage the pullout.
Since the Gaza settlements were isolated, Jewish settlers and other Gaza pullout opponents have been clashing with security forces at the crossing point.
Early yesterday, television footage showed settlers clad in orange -- the color symbolizing opposition to the withdrawal -- being dragged, pulled and carried away from the area by police and soldiers.
Israeli Cabinet ministers criticized the pullout opponents, saying they are forcing the army to fight on two fronts: on the one hand the settlers, and on the other Palestinian militants who have fired more than 100 mortars and rockets at Israeli targets since last Thursday, killing at least one woman.
"The intention of the settlers is clear: They want to prevent the disengagement ... by force," Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Israel Radio.
Meanwhile, thousands of Israeli troops massed along the Israel-Gaza border, waiting for an order to launch a broad offensive into the Gaza Strip to prevent Palestinian militants from firing at Israeli targets.
FLYBY: The object, appears to be traveling more than 60 kilometers per second, meaning it is not bound by the sun’s orbit, astronomers studying 3I/Atlas said Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through the solar system — only the third-ever spotted, although scientists suspect many more might slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated 3I/Atlas, is likely the largest yet detected, and has been classified as a comet, or cosmic snowball. “It looks kind of fuzzy,” said Peter Veres, an astronomer with the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, which was responsible for the official confirmation. “It seems that there is some gas around it, and I think one or two telescopes reported a very short tail.” Originally known as A11pl3Z before
‘CONTINUE TO SERVE’: The 90-year-old Dalai Lama said he hoped to be able to continue serving ‘sentient beings and the Buddha Dharma’ for decades to come The Dalai Lama yesterday said he dreamed of living for decades more, as the Buddhist spiritual leader prayed with thousands of exiled Tibetans on the eve of his 90th birthday. Thumping drums and deep horns reverberated from the Indian hilltop temple, as a chanting chorus of red-robed monks and nuns offered long-life prayers for Tenzin Gyatso, who followers believe is the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Looking in good health, dressed in traditional maroon monk robes and a flowing yellow wrap, he led prayers — days after confirming that the 600-year-old Tibetan Buddhist institution would continue after his death. Many exiled Tibetans
Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mexican capital on Friday denouncing gentrification caused by foreigners, with some vandalizing businesses and shouting “gringos out!” The demonstration in the capital’s central area turned violent when hooded individuals smashed windows, damaged restaurant furniture and looted a clothing store. Mexico City Government Secretary Cesar Cravioto said 15 businesses and public facilities were damaged in what he called “xenophobic expressions” similar to what Mexican migrants have suffered in other countries. “We are a city of open arms... there are always ways to negotiate, to sit at the table,” Cravioto told Milenio television. Neighborhoods like Roma-Condesa
BRICS leaders are to meet in Rio de Janeiro from today, with the bloc depleted by the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), who is skipping the annual summit of emerging economies for the first time in 12 years. The grouping meets as its members face imminent and costly tariff wars with the US. Conceived two decades ago as a forum for fast-growing economies, the BRICS have come to be dominated by Beijing, which grew much faster and larger than the rest. China has not said why Xi would miss the summit, a first since he became president in 2013. “I expect there
RSS