MIDDLE EAST: Thousands of ultra-nationalist demonstrators blocked major intersections across Israel yesterday, paralysing rush-hour traffic as they stepped up their protests against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip in the summer.
Hundreds of young protesters sat in the road blocking traffic at the entrance to Jerusalem for an hour, before police succeeded in dragging them off the highway that leads into the city.
In other areas, anti-withdrawal protesters burned tyres at intersections.
Over 200 protesters were detained by police.
Members of the anti-withdrawal camp, who have threatened a wide-scale campaign of civil disobedience aimed at thwarting the disengagement plan, described yesterday's actions as a "dress rehearsal". Once the withdrawal gets under way, they plan to expand the blocking of major traffic arteries, with the intention of spreading the security forces thin and drawing them away from Gaza Strip duties of evacuating settlers from their homes.
The protesters said yesterday their next move would be to block the roads around the homes of cabinet ministers and members of parliament.
In what police view as another anti-withdrawal stunt, backpacks initially suspected of containing bombs were placed at two Tel Aviv train stations on Sunday.
Notes found inside the bags, which contained newspapers and rocks, read: "The disengagement will blow up in our faces."
The security services, meanwhile, revealed yesterday they had detained and interrogated three Jewish extremists who, they said, had discussed firing a missile at Islam's third holiest site, in the Old City of Jerusalem, in an attempt to thwart Mr Sharon's withdrawal plan.
The three, who police said planned to purchase the missile from criminals, were released after the evidence against them was found to be too weak to press charges.
The three were said to have discussed an attack, but did not actually hatch concrete plans.
Security officials fear that extremists might try to carry out a desperate act as the withdrawal, scheduled for mid-August, draws closer.
Fears have been expressed that Mr Sharon could become a target for assassination, but most of the concern has focused on what is possibly one of the most hotly disputed pieces of real estate on the globe: the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), which includes the golden Dome of the Rock, the place from where Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven. For Jews it is the Temple Mount, their holiest site, where the biblical temples stood.
An attack on one of the mosques on the hilltop compound would reverberate across the Muslim world, possibly sparking major demonstrations and violence that would ultimately threaten the implementation of a Gaza withdrawal.