Anti-pullout Israelis to stage mass rally in Gaza

Tens of thousands of anti-pullout Israelis planned to stage a mass rally in a Gaza settlement bloc Wednesday, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Some 600 buses hired by the Gush Katif settlement Council are expected to bring in about 30,000 people, while those arriving in their own vehicles are going to be directed by police to the area.

Police sources estimated the number of protesters will reach 50,000 to 80,000.

The protesters hoped that mass demonstrations in Gush Katif will persuade the government to scrap the disengagement plan to withdraw all 21 Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip and four of 120 from the West Bank.

"If 100,000 people come, the prime minister (Ariel Sharon) and his plan will have a problem," said Itzik Iliya, a settlers leader in Gaza, told the paper.

Yesha (a settlers group) leader Pinchas Wallerstein said "every politician will have to take into account the meaning of the numbers who arrive in Gush Katif."

Thousands of visitors have poured in Gush Katif since the start of the Passover holiday last Saturday, in a bid to beef up protester presence.

The army and police have not yet decided when they will declare the entire area off limits to non-resident.

Under the evacuation-compensation law, any Israeli citizen who remains inside the Gaza Strip after the planned pullout will be subject to arrest.

The plan was delayed by three weeks to Aug. 15 to avoid clashingwith a traditional Jewish mourning period which ends on Aug. 14.

Source: Xinhua