Amona, West Bank ? Israeli soldiers began tearing down settlement outposts Monday in the West Bank — one of Israel’s obligations under a new Mideast peace plan — but settlers threatened to turn out by the thousands to frustrate the effort.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas rejected Palestinian criticism of his peace overtures to Israel, saying he was trying to end his people’s suffering and foster creation of an independent state.

Under the “road map” peace plan, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is required to remove scores of outposts in the West Bank, some empty and many others inhabited by just a few people. The Palestinians are supposed to disarm militants and ensure an end to attacks against Israelis.

Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed Monday’s operation. “I hope that in discharging this commitment, they would be able to remove these unauthorized outposts in a peaceful way,” Powell said during a visit to Santiago, Chile.

Sharon faced settler anger as removal of the outposts got under way, with Israeli troops pulling down two empty trailers that made up the Neve Erez South outpost near the Palestinian town of Ramallah.

The military pulled down a water tower at the Amona outpost. More than 100 people — mainly children — from a nearby Jewish settlement rushed over and blocked the road with stones and a human chain, preventing soldiers from hauling the 15-foot-tall tower away on a truck.

“Ariel Sharon is an old man who changed his way and now he has surrendered to terror,” said Daniel Cassuto, a settler in nearby Ofra.

An army statement said unauthorized structures were removed from five outposts on Monday. Israel Radio said early today that four others were dismantled, one by settlers. All were uninhabited.

Settlers said they would put up stiffer resistance at several populated outposts slated for removal.

“We have thousands, even tens of thousands, who are ready to fight,” said settler leader Adi Mintz, adding that the struggle would be nonviolent.

About 220,000 settlers live in 150 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians for their future state. The outposts generally are set up on hills near an established settlement in hopes of providing a basis for a larger enclave.

Palestinians were not impressed by Monday’s actions.

“Sharon is playing a game of deception through the evacuation of some of the empty trailers in order to give legitimacy to the tens of settlements he established,” Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said.

At last week’s summit, Abbas called for an end to attacks on Israelis, but militants rebuffed that by raiding an army post in Gaza on Sunday and killing four soldiers. Three militants were killed.

“We must do our utmost to end the bloodshed … and continue with the political process so we can convince the world that this is our path,” Abbas said on Monday in response.