Israeli Settlement Withdrawal

An Israeli army police officer, left, and a police officer, right, guard the Kissufim crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Aug. 15, 2005. Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip to Israeli civilians, signaling the start of its historic withdrawal that will end Israel's 38-year occupation of the coastal area. At midnight it became illegal for Israelis to live in Gaza.

An Israeli army soldier is comforted by another as troops arrive in the Jewish settlement of Nissanit, in the Gaza Strip, to hand out eviction orders to residents, Aug. 15, 2005. Defiant and tearful Jewish settlers locked the gates to their communities, formed human chains and burned tires to block troops from delivering eviction notices, as Israel began its historic pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivers a televised speech in his Jerusalem office, Aug. 15, 2005. Sharon said that the Gaza pullout is a painful step, both for the nation and for himself, but that it is essential for Israel's future.

A car was set ablaze on the road to block the Israeli army from entering the Jewish settlements of Bedolah and Atzmona, in the southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 15, 2005. Jewish settlers locked the gates to their communities, formed human chains and burned tires to block troops from delivering eviction notices, as Israel began its pullout from the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian flag, set up by Palestinian security forces deployed near Beit Lahiya, flies near the Jewish settlement of Dugit, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 15, 2005.

An Israeli soldier closes the entrance gate to the Jewish settlement of Nissanit shortly after midnight, Aug. 15, 2005 in the Gaza Strip.

Jewish settler Yitzhak Hackmon, right, and his wife, Anat, show the eviction order they received from Israeli army officials demanding that they to leave their house in Elei Sinai within 24 hours. The graffiti on the wall says: "My house is in Elei Sinai forever."

Surrounded by media members, a Jewish settler faces Israeli army Brig. Gen. Erez Zuckerman in the Jewish settlement of Morag, in the Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 15, 2005. Zuckerman, commander of the Golani infantry brigade, came with orders to distribute eviction notices to the 220 setters of Morag, a farming community in southern Gaza near the Egyptian border.

Israeli soldiers walk by a fire as they enter a house that was recently taken over by settlers, near the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam on June 29, 2005. Clashes between Jewish settlers, Israeli soldiers and Palestinians escalated ahead of the Israeli plan to remove veteran settlements from Gaza and the West Bank.

Israeli soldiers and border police officers look up at Jewish settlers standing on a balcony during the evacuation of a house that was taken over by settlers, in the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam on June 29, 2005. Young Jewish settlers went on a stone-throwing rampage after clashing with Israeli troops at the house, which turned into an outpost. At nightfall soldiers stormed the building and removed the squatters.

A young Jewish settler reads a prayer book as he is carried by Israeli soldiers attempting to evacuate a Palestinian house that was overtaken, near the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, June 29, 2005.

An injured Jewish settler is a helped after being hit by a rock during clashes with Palestinians near a Palestinian house that was taken over by Jewsih settlers, near the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, June 29, 2005.

A critically wounded Palestinian is helped after he was beaten up by a group of Jewish settlers near a Palestinian house they'd taken over, near the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, June 29, 2005.

An Israeli security guard fires into the air to disperse a crowd of stone-throwing Palestinians, during clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians near the settlement of Shirat Hayam, southern Gaza Strip, June 28, 2005.

Israeli army Cpl. Avi Bieber, right, confronts an army officer as he refuses to take part in removing Israeli settlers who were trying to prevent bulldozers from demolishing abandoned buildings, near the settlement of Shirat Hayam. Bieber said he was motivated by his religious belief that Jews were given the land by God. The U.S. born soldier was sentenced to 56 days in jail for refusing orders.

Israeli soldiers scuffle with a Jewish settler trying to prevent army bulldozers, from demolishing uninhabited former Egyptian resort homes outside the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, June 26, 2005. Israeli troops began demolishing a string of abandoned beachfront cottages to head off efforts by hardliner settlers to take over the buildings for resistance against Israel's planned withdrawal from the area.

Israeli soldiers scuffle with a Jewish settler trying to prevent army bulldozers, background right, from demolishing uninhabited former Egyptian resort homes outside the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2005.

An Israeli soldier looks at army bulldozers demolishing uninhabited former Egyptian resort homes, outside the Jewish settlement of Shirat Hayam, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 26, 2005.

Young Jewish settlers watch from outside as a special prayer is held against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan, in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, southern Gaza Strip, June 23, 2005. Hundreds of settlers turned out for the prayer.

Israeli youths stand by the beach at the Palm Beach hotel, which was turned into a settler outpost near the settlement of Neve Dekalim, June 24, 2005. About 400 opponents of Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan barricaded themselves in the beachfront hotel overnight, anticipating forced eviction by security forces.