Ragheb Alama | راغب علامة

Meanwhile, thousands of Israeli right-wing demonstrators and settlers participated Monday evening in a rally against the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli town of "Netivot." According to demonstration organizers more than 20,000 people attended the rally and they plan to march towards Gaza Strip despite a police ban. Israeli police barred more than 50 buses from taking protesters to the rally.

Some 20,000 Israeli soldiers and police were deployed Monday evening to prevent the mass protest march toward the Gaza Strip. Before the deployment, the settlers' "Yesha" Council expected some 100,000 people to attend the protest.

The ban has raised fears among the police and the Israeli army of violent clashes between demonstrators and security personnel, Haaretz reported.

In another development, the Palestinian movement of Hamas has said it remains committed to the five-month old "calm" with Israel in spite of the growing number of Israeli attacks. In the past few days, Hamas has launched more than 100 missiles at Israeli targets, following Israeli raids and assassination attacks.