At least five people, including an American, were wounded in the clash as protesters including Israelis, Palestinians and foreigners surged toward the fence and tried to tear down a gate near the northern West Bank village of Anin, witnesses said.

The clash highlighted the anger stirred by the construction of the fence, an issue on which Israel and the United States disagree. It is likely to be raised in talks between Sharon and President Bush in the White House Tuesday.

Sharon hopes a decision by his government Sunday to release 540 Palestinian prisoners, including 210 members of militant groups, will help his U.S. trip go smoothly.

The release is one of several gestures by Israel intended to help moderate Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas implement a U.S.-backed peace "road map." For their part, Palestinian militant groups declared a three-month truce on June 29.

However, 1,000 people in the Gaza Strip staged a march on Monday to demand the release of all 6,000 or so Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The fence and the prisoners remain obstacles to progress on the road map, which is intended to end Israeli-Palestinian violence and establish a Palestinian state by 2005.

Mohammed al-Hindi, a leader of the militant group Islamic Jihad, said: "If the Israeli government does not release all Palestinian prisoners, I think the truce will collapse."

BUSH, SHARON TO DISCUSS FENCE

At Anin, troops used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades as nearly 300 protesters gathered on both sides of the fence and tried to tear down a gate, witnesses said.

The demonstrators included 30 Israelis, 50 foreigners and about 200 Palestinians, they said.

Israel says it needs the fence to keep out suicide bombers who have killed several hundred Israelis since a Palestinian uprising for independence began in September 2000. It says a fence around Gaza has halted attacks launched from there.

Palestinians fear the fence, a concrete wall in some places and a wire mesh with electronic sensors in others, is intended to unilaterally set the borders of their envisaged state.

It is due to cut deep into West Bank territory in some places and loop around several Jewish settlements.

Bush called the fence "a problem" after talks with Abbas last week at the White House. The president is expected to raise the issue with Sharon Tuesday, when their talks will focus on efforts to push the road map forward.

Some Israeli media have suggested Sharon could seek to defuse the dispute by postponing construction of segments of the barrier that bulge sharply into the central West Bank.

Sharon is also likely to seek greater U.S. pressure on Abbas to crack down on Palestinian militants.

 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=3170024