Israel Begins Gaza Withdrawal

Israeli troops on Monday began handing out eviction notices to settlers of the Gaza Strip at the start of a historic withdrawal that will end its 38-year occupation of the coastal territory. Defiant settlers blocked the gates of their communities and vowed to prevent troops from delivering the notices.

Also, the Israeli Cabinet gave formal approval to the planned withdrawal from additional Gaza settlements.

Israel is planning on withdrawing from all 21 settlements in Gaza, but the Cabinet must give formal approval to the pullout. Monday's vote was the second of four scheduled votes on the pullout.

Officials said the vote approved withdrawal from Gush Katif, the main bloc of settlements in Gaza. Previously, the Cabinet approved the pullout from three settlements.

Soldiers have entered the largest settlement, Neve Dekalim, where they were blocked by protestors who burned tires and formed human chains. Earlier dozens of men wrapped in white prayer shawls held roadside morning prayers, while teens, many sporting orange ribbons, the color of defiance, danced in circles.

In Nissanit, soldiers delivered the first eviction notice to a young couple who invited the soldiers into their home and offered them a drink of water. Troops encountered no resistance in Nissanit.

Israeli settlers have been warned that they have less than 48 hours to leave the Gaza Strip. But several hundred so far have refused to go, CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins reports.

Hawkins adds that some settlers are so desperate to stay, they've offered to live under Palestinian rule as Palestinian citizens -- but the idea was rejected by Israel.

Troops fanned out across Jewish settlements to deliver the notices house to house. Settlers were to be told they have one last chance, until midnight Tuesday, to leave voluntarily. Those ignoring that final deadline will lose up to one-third of their compensation.

In Neve Dekalim and in several other settlements, though, there were few signs that residents would cooperate.

Dozens of Orthodox Jews held morning prayers outside Neve Dekalim's gate, hoping that divine intervention would somehow prevent the plan from going forward. "Who dares to do battle with God," read one protester's T-shirt. "Brother, don't expel me," said another.

Under the pullout plan, Israel will remove all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza as well as four enclaves in the West Bank. While many of Gaza's 8,500 residents have already left, the army estimates that several thousand people remain, including extremists who infiltrated Gaza.

Settler leaders have promised to resist without resorting to violence, though security officials fear extremists might violate that pledge.

The withdrawal marks the first time Israel would dismantle settlements in areas captured in the 1967 Mideast War and claimed by the Palestinians for their future state. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believes the withdrawal will improve Israeli security by reducing friction with the Palestinians.

"It's a painful and difficult day, but it's a historic day," Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, told Army Radio.

At the small settlement of Netzer Hazani, resident Anita Tucker said only one of the 70 families had left, and 17 others would leave Monday.

The others would resist without violence, she said. Speaking before soldiers came with eviction orders, Tucker, 59, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., said hundreds of people came to reinforce the settlement. "We know we can't fight the Israeli army. We don't want to," she said. "We are the Israeli army."

Israeli officials, police commanders and army officers were determined to carry out the evacuation, known as "disengagement." Israel's Cabinet was to meet later Monday and give final approval for removal of additional Gaza settlements in a step seen as a formality.

The pullout got under way after months of political wrangling and mass protests. The complex operation began at midnight Sunday, when soldiers lowered a road barrier at the Kissufim Crossing, signaling that it had become illegal for Israelis to be in Gaza. As the barrier went down, a traffic light changed from green to red.

Thousands of Palestinian police, meanwhile, moved into positions near Jewish settlements to keep away Palestinian crowds and prevent attacks by militants during the pullout, something that Israel warned would bring harsh retaliation.

Palestinian residents watched settlers packing up, and seeing moving trucks leave settlements dispelled the skepticism many Palestinians felt until the last minute.

"They are actually leaving. Who would have ever thought?" said Palestinian farmer Ziyad Satari, 40, standing on the roof of his three-story home in the Palestinian town of Khan Younis, which overlooks the Morag settlement.

Hundreds of supporters of the militant Islamic Jihad group celebrated in Gaza City on Sunday, with gunmen firing in the air, and teens setting off firecrackers and distributing sweets. The violent Hamas group organized special midnight prayers of thanks at Gaza mosques.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas offered the Israelis reassurance.

"We tell the Israeli people, `You have chosen the right path,"' he told Channel 10 TV. "Don't listen to the voices of the extremists who want a continuation of the occupation. I don't want and I will not accept any clashes with the army or the settlers."

However, there were exchanges of fire early Monday between soldiers and Palestinians near the Kfar Darom settlement, and mortar shells fell in two settlements and near an army base. No casualties were reported.

Many hope the pullout from the territory Israel captured in 1967 will be the start of a true partition of historic Palestine between Arab and Jew.

Others fear it is a ploy by Sharon to get rid of areas he doesn't consider crucial to Israel while consolidating control of parts of the West Bank, where the vast majority of the 240,000 Jewish settlers live.

The Palestinians want to create their own state out of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with east Jerusalem as their capital.