The Israel Defense Forces rescued five young right-wing activists who had entered the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday during a protest march to the former settlement of Nissanit.

A force of Golani soldiers, an IDF infantry brigade, entered the Palestinian territory in search of the youths, fearing Palestinian snipers would shoot them.

Some 500 right-wing activists seeking to resettle the evacuated Gaza settlements marched toward Nissanit on Thursday to mark the second anniversary of the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip during the 2005 disengagement.

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The protesters were barred by the police forces from entering Gaza, and a clash erupted just outside the Gaza border in the south of Israel.

15 protesters were arrested during the scuffle with the police, including rabbi Abraham Shriber.

The protest march was led by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and MK Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party). Eliyahu said that "after two years, one realizes that the disengagement was stupid, and a mistake. A return to the settlements is the appropriate response."

MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) added that "We are expressing today our demands for a right of return. Those who think that they can make Gaza residents forget the homes from which they were evicted are deluding themselves."

"Hundreds of youth are marching in the hottest days of the year, declaring that mistakes can be rectified and demanding to return home," he added.

On Wednesday, police forces arrested 13 youths during clashes between activists and security forces following an attempt by right-wing protesters to build an outpost next to the West Bank settlement of Efrat.

The clashes came just two days after hundreds of settlers were forcibly removed from the evacuated West Bank settlement of Homesh.

The activists set out on Wednesday afternoon to march northwest from the Givat Hazait neighborhood of Efrat to Eitam Hill, about three kilometers away. Clashes began as dozens of Border Police officers confronted them on the way to the hill, in an attempt to stop them from marching.

Most of the rightists managed to bypass the gate and several barriers put in place by Israel Defense Forces, but were stopped just short of the summit they were attempting to reach. Arrests included Rabbi Moshe Levinger, from the particularly ideological Jewish community in Hebron.

Police came prepared with reinforcements in order to prevent the march. Much of the force involved in the clashes at Homesh were moved to Gush Etzion - the bloc of settlements, of which Efrat is the largest - where they were joined by officers from the Judea and Samaria police. The Israel Defense Forces also deployed a battalion stationed in the area.

Right-wing activists and settlers had previously announced their intention to form a new outpost Wednesday in the West Bank, with the support of at least nine right-wing action groups.

The area for the new settlement is adjacent to Efrat, a prominent and veteran settlement, which is located south of Jerusalem between Bethlehem and Hebron.

The right-wing activists are seeking to build the new settlement on Eitam Hill, which belongs to Efrat's municipal territory. The Housing Ministry had previously planned to build 2,500 housing units on Eitam Hill. However, the separation fence cut Eitam Hill off from Efrat proper, which is home to some 7,500 residents.

"The new settlement of Eitam is the first step of a five-stage plan to lift the chokehold that the cabinet has imposed on the settlement in Judea and Samaria," the organizers of the event said.

Additionally, settlers of the evacuated settlement of Nisanit in the Gaza Strip said they intended to return there Thursday. Security forces are preparing to block the attempt.