MILITARY SEES SHOWDOWN AS TEST OF WITHDRAWAL

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- Israel's military regards the mission to stop tens ofthousands of protesters from entering the Gaza Strip as a test of the army'sability to withdraw from the area in August. Military sources said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz has supervisedan effort to halt a march to the Gaza Strip by an estimated 20,000withdrawal opponents. Halutz has poured 12,000 troops to join 5,500 policeofficers to maintain a siege on the marchers, trapped in a tent site aboutfive kilometers from the southeastern entrance to the Gaza Strip.