Two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were lightly wounded on Tuesday as they attempted to prevent protestors from reaching the site of the evacuated West Bank settlement Homesh.

The soldiers were treated on the scene for light injuries and were not hospitalized.

According to organizers of the event, however, no soldier was attacked, saying a verbal argument broke out after a Border Police jeep struck a protester's leg. She was taken to hospital for medical treatment.

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The organizers say some 25,000 people reached the site of the former settlement Tuesday. Zafrir Ronen of "Homesh First" said that organizers "had prepared for 2,000 to 3,000 participants, but there are between 20 and 30,000 - religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox, youth, and elderly. The police have given up. Our determination has proven itself, and people are making it all the way [to the settlement]."

Ronen added that the demonstrators intend to stay the night at the site, despite the fact that organizers had promised that all protesters would leave Homesh by nightfall Tuesday and not attempt to remain at the site.

The army said that the protestors managed to make their way to Homesh mainly by taking shortcuts or by bypassing IDF roadblocks in the area.

Demonstrators marched from the settlement of Shavei Shomron in the West Bank to the site of the former settlement of Homesh at 11 A.M. on Tuesday. The march is meant to commemorate the former settlement, evacuated as part of the Gaza Disengagement in the Summer of 2005.

Among the participants seen leaving Shavei Shomron were four busloads of Likud activists.

The army placed barricades in the northern West Bank in an attempt to stop protestors from reaching the ruins. This move followed an attempt by Defense Minister Amir Peretz and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi to stop the march by requiring its organizers attain a parade approval.

IDF sources have stated that the army will not allow anyone who is not a resident of Shavei Shomron to travel to the area. Nonetheless, IDF sources have stated that there is zero chance that they will be able to stop the march entirely.

Former chief rabbi of Israel Avraham Shapira blessed the Homesh march and issued his support for the efforts of the "Homesh First" organization.

The Council of Settlement Rabbis published an ad saying the march to Homesh is "the application of the ideals of Independence Day." The council called on supporters to march to Homesh in droves "from all corners, to announce and bless this miracle of return and settlement on every inch of our sacred land."

Israeli Nobel Prize laureate Professor Yisrael Aumann led the march to Homesh. Aumann has stated that the rebuilding of Homesh will be "a necessary turning point for the country," adding that the march will "express our ambition to be a free people in our own country."

March organizers stated that no changes were made in the itinerary of the march. Boaz Hatzani, head of "Homesh First," said that march organizers did not request a permit from the IDF. Nonetheless, sources at "Homesh First" have stated that they will not block IDF access routes to the area of the march, and have acknowledged that in the end, it is the IDF that will provide their security.