Chain of resistance against Gaza Strip pullout

JERUSALEM - More than 100,000 Israelis joined hands in a human chain stretching 90km from Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip yesterday, to protest against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull Jewish settlers from the occupied territory.

The biggest demonstration since the initiative was proposed in February sent a clear signal of the political battle facing Sharon, who was once a strong supporter of the movement to settle land captured in the 1967 war.

"This chain is a sign of strength," said Anita Tucker, one of the 8000 settlers living in heavily protected Gaza enclaves alongside more than 1.3 million Palestinians.

Organisers said some 200,000 took part, while police estimated the crowd at 130,000.

Under Sharon's plan for "disengagement" from nearly four years of conflict with the Palestinians, all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank would be evacuated by the end of next year.

While polls show that most Israelis would happily relinquish Gaza as too costly in money and blood, many right wingers say giving up land would be a "reward for Palestinian terror". Underscoring the precariousness of the settlements, Palestinian militants fired a missile into the main Gush Katif settlement bloc as the protest broke up. Six people were wounded, among them children. One was hurt seriously.

Israeli soldiers fired back at neighbouring Khan Younis, wounding seven Palestinians including five children, medics said.

The human chain stretched from the northern Gaza Strip to Jerusalem's Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine. Police ordered an 8km gap outside Jerusalem for security reasons.

Busloads of protesters descended on Jerusalem, many waving Israeli flags and dressed in orange caps or shirts - chosen to represent the Gaza Strip's subtropical climate.

"We are expressing the fact that all of Israel belongs to all the people of Israel," said Yonatan Namdar.

Sharon won Cabinet approval in principle for the plan, but lost his far-right allies, leaving him scrambling to build a new coalition.

In an apparent effort to appease the settlers, Sharon announced plans to convene a committee today to look into settler requests for additional funding and construction permits.

Government attempts to remove unauthorised hilltop settlements in the West Bank, required of Israel under a tattered United States-backed road map to peace, have been largely unsuccessful because many are quickly rebuilt.

- REUTERS