Lord General

GAZA CITY (CNN) -- With Israeli and Palestinian forces coordinating efforts to prevent any violence, Israel officially began its historic pullout from Gaza Sunday night at the stroke of midnight (5 p.m. ET).

Israeli troops began sealing off all 21 settlements in Gaza, barring anyone from entering. Israel plans to announce soon that it is illegal for settlers -- numbering approximately 8,500 -- to remain in Gaza.

Leaders on both sides expressed high hopes for the withdrawal. Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres told CNN Sunday, "I'm sure that history will justify our choice."

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa told CNN, "What's happening is important, and it's positive."

But the looming possibility of violence from settlers and their ultranationalist supporters on one side, and Palestinian militant groups on the other, threatened to overshadow the optimism.

Many Gaza settlers are being forced to leave against their wishes after living for decades in the Israeli occupied territory.

Israel also is withdrawing from four Jewish settlements in the West Bank -- like Gaza, land that Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said Sunday the four West Bank settlements -- which are among 120 -- will be vacated after the completion of withdrawal from the Gaza settlements.

He predicted that about half the Gaza settlers will leave voluntarily. Those who don't may be removed by force as early as Wednesday.

About 20,000 Palestinian police and security forces are expected to play a role in the pullout -- 7,500 of them were deployed Sunday near Jewish settlements in southern Gaza, Palestinian security sources said.

They will focus largely on preventing attacks from militants and working to ensure that Palestinians who may move into evacuated areas are safe.

Israeli troops, larger in number and with much more training, are focusing largely on preventing violence from settlers and protecting them from militants.

Israeli government officials have said they hope the withdrawal will change the political landscape of the Middle East, opening the way for resumption of peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaoul Mofaz has predicted that all settlers will be out of Gaza within a month of disengagement.

Israel also plans to have its troops withdrawn from Gaza by the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, in the beginning of October.

But the challenge has grown as thousands of anti-withdrawal activists have flocked into Gaza in recent days. Halutz said about 5,000 Israeli youths who are not settlers are inside Gaza.

While many settlers express religious fervor and a belief that Gaza is part of the historic Jewish homeland, some secular Israelis expressing nationalist sentiment have come to fight the pullout.

One of their chief arguments: That leaving Gaza after years of terrorist attacks by Palestinian militant groups will only reward terrorism and lead to similar tactics by groups wanting to destroy Israel.

Soldiers wounded
Five Israeli soldiers were wounded Sunday when an Israeli tank aiming at a Palestinian gunman mistakenly hit Israeli troops. The soldiers had arrived at a building where the gunman was hiding in Kfar Darom, central Gaza, Israeli military officials said.

Because of the shootout, Israel closed the Gush Katif junction as a security measure. With the junction closed, Palestinian security forces could not get to certain deployment destinations near settlements.

Israel asked Palestinian leadership to wait with those deployments until after a meeting between top Israeli and Palestinian commanders in the region.

Once the Israeli military's Gaza division commander Aviv Kochavi met with his Palestinian counterpart, Gush Katif was reopened, and Palestinian security forces dispatched troops to areas near the settlements.

Israeli military officials said the meeting between the two figures was successful, and that the two discussed final deployment plans.

Palestinian security on alert
Despite complaints about a lack of equipment, Palestinian Authority security forces Saturday were on high alert, stationed outside settlements across Gaza to prevent violence in preparation for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and thousands of Jewish settlers.

Most of the settlers are to be evacuated from Gaza, where Israel has been closely coordinating with Palestinian security forces. A joint information and coordination center has been established at Erez Crossing along the northern Gaza-Israel border.

However, a senior Palestinian minister told CNN's Ben Wedeman that Palestinian security forces in Gaza have been forced to buy bullets on the black market for about $8 each because Israel's military is not providing any ammunition for the ill-equipped forces.

The atmosphere among many Palestinians is jubilant, seeing the pullout of Jewish settlers as a victory. At Gaza City's fishermen's harbor Friday, a crowd waved Palestinian flags in an official celebration of the withdrawal. Palestinian AuthorityPresident Mahmoud Abbas addressed the crowd and was given a hero's welcome.

Hamas leaders have quietly told the Palestinian Authority they will not disrupt the withdrawal process, but not everyone trusts that pledge.

In a news conference Saturday, senior Hamas member Ismail Haniyye called the withdrawal a "retreat" and said it was "a result of resistance and our people's sacrifice."

"It is evidence that resistance is able to achieve our national goals," he said.

He also vowed that the armed struggle against the Jewish state would continue, despite the pullout.

"Hamas confirms its adherence to resistance as a strategic option until the occupation retreats from our lands and holy places," senior Hamas member Ismail Haniyye said. "Our movement reaffirms that it will protect its military apparatus and Al Qassam Brigades and its weapons and keep them for defending our land."

Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist organization, has been labeled by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization. The group's military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, has admitted responsibility for terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians as well as attacks against the Israeli military.

There is an obviously grimmer mood among the settlers, and many of them have promised to resist.

"We're going to have to tell the government, 'No you cannot take us out of Gush Katif,' " settler Rachel Saperstein said. "We are going to stay here as long as possible, as long as our food supply holds out, our water supply and beyond that."

Peres warns troops of violence
Peres met with troops Sunday at the Kissufim border crossing in Gaza, warning that they may face violence from settlers or ultranationalist supporters.

"You are saving the state of Israel," Peres said. "Israel has dangers from the outside, and [Israel Defense Forces] face them all. And now, we have a danger from the inside, and now the IDF has to deal with that as well."

"There is no sense whatsoever to remain here," he added. "The settlers do not have a future in the Gaza Strip, because they cannot live as an isolated group of people 8,000-strong among a million-and-a-half Palestinians who live in poverty and protest and unemployment."

Possible turning point
Sharon, who has invested much of his political future in the pullout's success, has said it may jump-start peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Although Palestinian leaders criticized Sharon for making the plan unilaterally -- rather than as part of brokered talks -- they also have expressed hope that, after 38 years in Gaza, Israel's evacuation may create a turning point.

The Bush administration supports the plan. In an interview last week with Israel's Channel 1 TV, Bush called the decision "bold."

"The disengagement is, I think, a part of making Israel more secure and peaceful, and I agree with the prime minister," Bush said. "I can understand why people think this decision is one that will create a vacuum into which terrorism will flow. I happen to disagree. I think this will create an opportunity for democracy to emerge. And democracies are peaceful."

Confed999

I pray it works. One thing for sure, Israel is showing it wants peace...

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No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

clovely81

Israel can show it wants peace til the end of time. It is no use showing it to a people who want nothing less than the extermination of all things Jewish. Maybe it will make the normal Palestinian stand up to the wackos.

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A truely wise man has more questions to ask than answers to give.

EricTheRed

hopefully

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"Acquire a peaceful spirit, and around you thousands will be saved." - Saint Seraphim of Sarov

Lord General

Isreal (jewish ppl) is very smart. Unlike other countries who want freedom, Isreal is the only smart enough country to get away from terrorism by actually pulling out. After they pull out, they're just going to build posts all around the border line, so not even one palestinian can enter their area. Its harsh, but its true. Other countries, hint hint Russia (due to the chechnia) should do the same. Save your civilians. There is no real down-side to doing the smart thing.

SloMax

It's good to see Israelis pull out of Gaza and giving Palestinians the chance to establish their country (better not waste it). Gaza is only a small piece of the puzzle; I think the real test will be the West Bank.

dalem

Ah-hahahahhhahahaha! "not waste it"? They are barbarians. It's going to turn into a dog's breakfast of violence and thuggery. Just another Mogadishu full of starving cave men with AKs.

-dale

Neo

It's a good start, but Ghaza is nothing compared to the size of West Bank.
Lets wait and see what happens next..

ZFBoxcar

True, but the whole point of this withdrawl is to remove Israel's responsibility for the barbarians and to prove that Israel is not the cause of their barbarism. The Palestinians benifited economically by an incredible amount from Israel's occupation. They threw it away for the glory of killing Jews. Now they will have to take care of themselves...although I hear Israel is still gonna be providing them with free utilities the way they always have.

Alamgir

At least you admitted it was Israeli occupation of Arab land. What people anywhere on earth want to live under occupation of foreign forces? Here lies your answer to what you call 'barbarism' of Palestinians. As if Israel's blowing up of civilian houses and shooting dead children is not barbaric like blowing up busses in Tel Aviv..

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ZFBoxcar

It was occupation of land that the Jordanians and Egyptians stole from the Palestinians before there WERE Palestinians. Arabs are not a monolithic entity. Land does not belong to Arabs as a whole, it can belong to an Arab state. In this case the Jordanians and Egyptians surrendered their claims to the land, which they didn't have much claim to in the first place since they lost it attacking Israel for no reason. Nevertheless it is still occupation since it subject to Israeli military law rather than civillian law. But in diplomatic terms, they should be considered disputed territories rather than occupied.

When Israel kills Palestinians and destroys their houses, it is either accidental or punishing terrorists. When Palestinians blow up buses in Tel Aviv they are committing murder. The Palestinians who raise their children to be "martyrs" know their houses will be destroyed.

clovely81

The difference is simply the Palestinian terrorist hide themselves amongst civilians, making Israel's job of retalitory strikes without collateral damage imposible. The Palestinians intentionally go after civilians because they are too chicken to fight anyone that can defend themselves. That's what makes them, and not Israel, barbaric.

ZFBoxcar

The following is the full text of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's televised speech on the first day of the evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip.



The day has arrived. We are beginning the most difficult and painful step of all, evacuating our communities from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria (West Bank).

This step is very difficult for me personally. It is not with a light heart that the government of Israel made this decision on disengagement and the parliament did not lightly approve it.

It is no secret that, like many others, I had believed and hoped we could forever hold onto Netzarim and Kfar Darom.

But the changing reality in the country, in the region, and the world, required of me a reassessment and change of positions.

We cannot hold on to Gaza forever. More than a million Palestinians live there and double their number with each generation.

They live in uniquely crowded conditions in refugee camps, in poverty and despair, in hotbeds of rising hatred with no hope on the horizon.

It is out of strength and not weakness that we take this step. We tried to reach agreements with the Palestinians that would move both peoples towards a path of peace.

These were crushed against a wall of hatred and fanaticism.

The unilateral disengagement plan I announced two years ago is the Israeli answer to this reality.

This plan will be good for Israel in any future scenario. We are reducing daily friction and its victims on both sides.

The Israeli army will redeploy along defensive lines behind the security fence.

Those who continue to fight us will meet the full force of the Israeli army and security forces.

The Palestinians bear the burden of proof. They must fight terrorist organisations and dismantle their infrastructure and show sincere intentions for peace so they can sit with us at the negotiating table.

The world is waiting for the Palestinian response - a hand stretched out to peace or the fire of terror.

To an outstretched hand we shall respond with an olive branch, but we shall fight fire with the harshest fire ever.

The disengagement will allow us to look inward. Our national agenda will change.

In our economic policy we will be free to turn to closing social gaps and to waging a real fight on poverty.

We will advance education and increase the personal security of every citizen in the country.

The controversy over the disengagement plan has caused difficult wounds, a bitter hatred between brothers, and strong statements and actions.

I understand the pain and anguish of the opponents, but we are one people, even when fighting and arguing.

Residents of Gaza, today we end a glorious chapter in Israel's history, a central episode in your lives as pioneers, as realisers of the dream of those who bore the security and settlement burden for all of us.

Your pain and your tears are an inextricable part of the history of our country.

Whatever differences we have, we shall not abandon you and after the evacuation we will do everything to rebuild your lives and communities anew.

I want to tell the soldiers and police, you face a difficult mission. You do not face an enemy, but brothers and sisters.

Sensitivity and patience are the order of the hour. I am sure that is how you will act. I want you to know the people stand behind you and are proud of you.

Citizens of Israel, the responsibility for Israel's future is mine. I initiated the plan because I reached the conclusion that this action is essential for Israel.

Believe me, the pain I feel with this act is the same as the full realisation that we must do it.

We are taking a new path that also has no small number of risks, but which also contains a ray of hope for us all.

With God's help this path shall be one of unity and not division, and not animosity between brothers, of unconditional love and not hatred.

I will do my utmost to ensure that it will be so.

Leader

Isn't that what the Palestinians do? Waste opportunities for peace.

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Leader

Are the any other parts of the world you'd like to claim as "Arab land?"

So you would think the Palestinians would do what is necessary to end it, but they don't. They prolong it in the abused belief that they can defeat the Israelis.

Unlike the Palestinians, the Israelis aren't looking for children to murder. Unlike the Palestinians, the Israelis don't send their children out to kill themselves.