The Israeli army closed off the Palestinian enclave of al-Mawasi in the heart of the Gush Katif settlement block Thursday, residents said to Reuters. Soldiers imposed a curfew on the southern Gaza Strip enclave, after dozens of settlers tried to infiltrate it and set palm and olive trees in the area on fire. On Wednesday, several settlers badly damaged a house in al-Mawasi, breaking windows and setting fire to furniture, Palestinians said. Al-Mawasi is a narrow strip of land along the Gaza coast with some 5,000 Palestinian residents, surrounded by the 17 Jewish settlements of the Gush Katif block. --SP 1349 Local Time 1049 GMT