2006 Pulitzer finalists | Breaking News Photography

LAST HOPE: Tens of thousands of demonstrators gather near the Western Wall to pray and to rally against Israel’s planned withdrawal from all settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank, a week before the pullout is scheduled to begin. Black -suited ultra -Orthodox Jews, who have largely stayed out of the public debate over the evacuation, turned out in large numbers for the gathering.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

DIFFICULT MOMENT: A settler in Gaza’s Neve Dekalim pleads with Israeli security personnel not to go through with evictions.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

CONFRONTATION: An Israeli officer pleads with a woman in Shirat Hayam to leave peacefully. Israeli forces arrived at noon in the hard-line outpost and faced strong resistance.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

PACKING IT IN: Aran Goren watches movers take out her family’s belongings from their home in Dugit . They are leaving before the Israeli army comes to tell them to get out.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

ROADBLOCK: Israeli police struggle with protesters in the Gaza Strip settlement of Neve Dekalim.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT: Settlers and protesters were carried away and forcibly put on buses out of Gaza. The largest settlement in the seaside strip, Neve Dekalim, was emptied by day’s end.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

RESISTANCE: A Jewish activist runs from a burning barricade after hurling a paint ball at Israeli forces as they move into the Gadid settlement in the Gaza Strip.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

UPROOTED: Even many Israelis who backed the pullout were moved by the sight of emotional settlers, such as this woman.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

HIS OPINION: A protester evacuated from Gaza berates soldiers at the Kissufim crossing into Israel. Settler ranks have been swelled by protesters from outside the territory seeking to impede withdrawal.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

RESISTANCE: A burning tire fills the air with smoke as residents and other demonstrators try to block the evacuation of Neve Dekalim.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

ONE FINAL LOOK: Jewish settlers and infiltrators were driven away from Shirat Hayam aboard buses. the second day of forced evacuation of the Gaza Strip settlements. Israeli Defense Force soldiers and police officers arrived after noon and despite fierce resistance, all residents were put on buses and removed from the settlement.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

SMOKY TACTICS: As security forces watch, activists in Gaza’s Neve Dekalim set fires to keep out buses intended to remove settlers.  (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

JUBILATION: Palestinians in Gaza City celebrate the departure of Jewish settlers. The rally was organized by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.

PAINFUL DEPARTURE: Pnina Shimoni cries while talking to her sister in Tel Aviv. She is preparing to abandon the home in Dugit, in the Gaza Strip, where she raised three children.   (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

THE WALLS COME DOWN: An Israeli police officer watches the razing of a house in Dugit , a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

TRYING TO TAKE A SHORTCUT: Palestinians make their way toward a hole in the Israeli separation barrier, which cuts off the West Bank town of Azariya from Jerusalem. The path through the hole would have allowed them to avoid a 13-mile detour, but Israeli border police were in the area and no one could pass.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)