Hundreds of Palestinians protest against Kassam shootings
(The Associated Press)

In a rare demonstration Tuesday, about 600 residents of northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun blocked a main road with trash cans, rocks and burning tires in a burst of anger at gunmen who have prompted Israeli incursions by firing rockets at Israeli targets.

The protest erupted some hours after the IDF pulled forces out of Beit Hanoun after a five-day incursion aimed at disrupting the Kassam rocket attacks.

"They claim they are heroes," said Mohammed Zaaneen, 30, a farmer, of the Palestiniain gunmen, as he carried rocks into the street. "They brought us only destruction and made us homeless. They used our farms, our houses and our children ... to hide."

During the IDF presence in Beit Hanoun, eight Palestinians were killed in clashes, our gunmen and four teens, ages 13, 15 and 17. Three of the teens had been throwing stones at Israeli tanks when they were shot by troops. Sixty-five residents were wounded, including 20 under the age of 15, doctors said.

The IDF troop pullback came despite a rash of suicide bomb attacks in Israel that have killed 12 people and wounded dozens in the past few days.

The pullback suggested Israel is holding off on large-scale retaliation for now, amid international concern that new strikes would further weaken the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas is seen as instrumental in implementing the "road map" to peace plan, a three-stage prescription for ending violence and setting up a Palestinian state by 2005.

However, Abbas has said he will not launch a crackdown on militias, a crucial step in the first phase, until Prime Minister Ariel Sharon accepts the plan.