Gaza settlers protest on Israel's Independence Day

Thousands of right-wing Israelis poured into Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip yesterday marking Israel's Independence Day with a protest against a planned pull-out from Gaza in August.

The Gaza settlers and their supporters vowed to stay in homes in the sandy coastal strip that Israel has occupied since the 1967 Middle East war, and defiantly inaugurated a new synagogue in the southern Kfar Darom settlement.

"We are continuing our lives," settler Haim Bloch said. "We believe we will be here forever and we hope the people with these strange and difficult ideas will come to their senses and understand that Gush Katif is our home forever."

Settlers dressed in blue and white, the colours of the Israeli flag, held picnics in the areas where 8,500 Jews live isolated from 1.3 million Palestinians.

Some chanted psalms, while others waved flags and danced to Israeli music. Many also wore orange, symbolic of the protest movement against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to remove all 21 Gaza settlements.

Police estimated the turnout for the Gaza protest at 35,000, although settlers said the number was higher at 80,000. Around 1,500 settlers also marched in the West Bank where four of 120 settlements are set to be dismantled.