Israeli barricades contain protesters

JERUSALEM — With a big show of force around a disputed holy site, Israeli police blocked a small rally by right-wing Jews yesterday that officials had feared might ignite a new round of bloodshed.

After weeks of calm, the city was under extraordinarily tight security as 3,000 police officers set up barricades in and around Jerusalem's walled Old City to prevent Jewish demonstrators from entering the Temple Mount, a hilltop site sacred to Jews and Muslims and a spark for past violence.

Leaders of the group, a previously unknown movement named Revava, had hoped for a big turnout to protest the Israeli government's planned withdrawal this summer of settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.

But only a few dozen protesters made their way past a thick blanket of police. Authorities said 31 people were arrested, some before they had made it inside the Old City. No injuries were reported.

Police also barred four right-wing members of the parliament, or Knesset. The legislators, vociferous opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pullout plan, decried being kept out.

"This will not lead to calm. It will only invite the next wave of terrorism, the next round of violence," pro-settler Knesset member Uri Ariel told Israel Radio.

Israeli authorities spent days preparing for possible turmoil. Officials feared the demonstration could provoke a violent reaction by Palestinians and shatter a truce agreed to last month by Palestinian militant groups.

The massive police presence reflected Israel's desire to prevent clashes as Sharon headed to the United States for a meeting today with President Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

But it also demonstrated the ability of hard-liners to tie up thousands of Israeli police ahead of the planned withdrawal, which foes hope to disrupt through civil disobedience.

Palestinian groups threatened new attacks if the Jewish demonstrators entered the mosque compound atop Temple Mount, which is known by Arabs as "Haram al Sharif," or the Noble Sanctuary.

Those threats picked up Saturday when Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinian teenagers in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt. Palestinian witnesses said the boys — ages 14, 15 and 16 — were playing soccer near the border fence when they were struck.

The Israeli army said the youths were apparently going to Egypt to smuggle weapons back into Gaza and ignored warning shots as they crossed a no-go zone at the border.

In retaliation, Palestinian militants fired more than 70 mortar shells and rockets at Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza Stri. No casualties were reported.

To head off violence, Israeli police barred Muslim males younger than 40 from attending prayers at the Old City site yesterday. Officials reported a few cases of Palestinian youths throwing rocks at police outside the Old City, but the midday prayer took place at the mosque complex without incident.

The prayer drew more than 10,000 worshippers, a larger-than-normal Sunday gathering, after Muslim leaders summoned followers to defend against what they called desecration of the site by Jewish protesters. Hundreds of worshippers spent the night there.