Youths protest pullout from Gaza

JERUSALEM – Hundreds of young protesters flooded Israeli courtrooms on Tuesday after blocking dozens of highways a day before, the most disruptive demonstration yet against the planned summer pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank.

The protests came as settlers themselves were signing up to move back to Israel.

Extra judges were brought into courtrooms to handle hearings for more than 300 protesters, most of them in their teens and early 20s, detained while blocking highways with burning tires and their bodies Monday night. Police agreed to release about 130 of them with a ban on similar protests for 60 days.

Meanwhile, in violence early today, witnesses said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian militant at the edge of the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza. Residents said they heard an explosion, possibly a bomb planted by militants, and then an Israeli gunshot, which killed Ahmed Barhoum, a 22-year-old Hamas member.

Military officials said Palestinians shot rifles and aimed anti-tank grenades at Israeli soldiers, who returned fire. Such cases have been rare since a cease-fire was declared on Feb. 8.

Supporters of the Israeli protesters, most wearing skullcaps and ritual fringes identifying them as Orthodox Jews, sang and danced outside the courtrooms on Tuesday, encouraging their friends as they were taken inside, many in handcuffs.

A ban on protests is to expire in mid-July, just as the activists move into high gear in their drive to scuttle the pullout. Organizers called the road-blocking exercise a success, noting it tied up thousands of police. In August, they believe diverting such large numbers from Gaza would cause cancellation of the evacuation.

Security officials say they have contingency plans to meet the challenge. Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi said most of the protesters would be charged.