Defiant settlers form human chains to block soldiers with eviction notices

NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip — Tearful Jewish settlers locked gates at their communities, formed human chains and burned tires to block troops from delivering eviction notices Monday as Israel began to pull out from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation.

Police and soldiers waited patiently in the sweltering sun and avoided confrontations at the behest of their commanders. At one spot, a sobbing settler pleaded with a general not to evict him before the two men embraced.

"It's a painful and difficult day, but it's a historic day," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said.

Over the next three weeks, Israel plans to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four in the northern West Bank. The withdrawal marks the first time Israel is giving up settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.

While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the pullout will improve Israel's security, Jewish settlers fiercely opposed the plan and promised stiff, but nonviolent resistance.

But in a sign that at least some of the holdouts might leave by a Wednesday deadline, protesters permitted a convoy of moving trucks to enter the Neve Dekalim settlement Monday afternoon. Sharon planned a nationwide address Monday evening.

In Gaza City, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas set Jan. 21 as the date for long-delayed legislative elections.

The order was meant to show that the Palestinians are on the road to establishing a democracy, said Saeb Erekat, a government spokesman. "Those who want to seek power need to do so through the ballot box, not bullets," he said.

The elections were originally scheduled for July 17. Palestinian officials said the delay was for technical reasons, but the militant group Hamas accused Abbas of seeking time to shore up support for his embattled Fatah party. Hamas still plans to field candidates.

Hamas activists in Gaza City hung banners Monday proclaiming the pullout was a result of attacks by militants on Israelis. "The blood of martyrs has led to liberation," one banner said.

But the group said it had no plans to carry out attacks during Israel's withdrawal — an act that Israel warned would bring a harsh retaliation.

"If the Israelis evacuate the Gaza Strip quietly, I think there is no single person among our people who will obstruct or violate this evacuation," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.

Israeli troops fired in the air Monday to keep back hundreds of Palestinians, including a few dozen masked gunmen, who marched toward southern Gaza's Gush Katif group of settlements in celebration of the impending withdrawal. The crowd burned a cardboard model of an Israeli settlement, complete with an army watchtower.