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Israeli police officers walk by an anti-pullout protestor during morning prayers, on the road between Gaza and Ofakim. (AP)
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07/04
Haaretz |
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 4, 2005 |
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Police ordered 15,000 anti-pullout demonstrators, who spent the night at the Peduyim Junction, on a road leading to the Gaza Strip, to return to Ofakim, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from Gaza.
By this morning, many had dispersed, as police and army units began to encircle the area to ensure no infiltrators left the site enroute to the Gaza Strip.
According to police spokesman Avi Zelba, about 1,300 protestors tried to break into Gaza in two groups overnight and were turned back, and 150 activists were arrested.
He also said a police vehicle chasing one of the groups, which was trying to enter Gaza via a series of dirt roads, overturned. No one was hurt.
Some of the attempted infiltrators at Nisanit nearly got shot by IDF, who initially mistook them for Palestinian terrorists.
An infiltration warning had put all IDF forces in the area on high alert. Troops were alerted to the scene and, just before they opened fire, it became clear the infiltrators were pullout opponents and not Palestinian gunmen.
Colonel Yossi Morali, commander of the IDF's northern Gaza brigade, told the radio he fears a disaster. He noted this was not the first incident of its kind. Morali said some of the infiltrators arrested in Nisanit overnight were youth aged 10 and 11 years old who did not understand what was going on. One of the youth passed out during the events.
According to settlers council head Bentsi Lieberman, several hundred of those who attempted to enter Gaza, succeeded. He said most of the demonstrators would leave Ofakim before the Jewish Sabbath, which begins Friday before sundown.
The AP contributed to this report.
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