ON THEIR first day as outlaws, angry Jewish settlers traded blows with Israeli soldiers yesterday, slashing and burning tyres to stop Ariel Sharon’s Government serving eviction notices in Gaza.

Dozens of anti-disengagement protesters formed a human chain at the gates of Gush Katif’s largest settlement, jostling police and military officials sent to give them 48 hours notice of forcible evacuation.

Determined to avoid a showdown — for now — the Israeli security forces backed off, deferring the inevitable clashes until after midnight tonight when they will be sent in by the thousand to drag angry settlers out by force.

Some settlers prayed for a miracle, but Mr Sharon, in a televised speech last night, said that the Gaza pullout was a painful but essential step. Addressing the nation, Mr Sharon delivered an impassioned defence of his pullout plan, saying he understood the pain of the settlers but warned of an unprecedented response to Palestinians who shunned his “hand of peace”.

Two of the four doomed settlements in the West Bank were evacuated weeks before schedule. The Army said that the two most northerly settlements of Ganin and Kadim in the West Bank had been cleared of every resident.

A grim-looking Mr Sharon said it was now up to the Palestinians to curb their militants. “The world is waiting for the Palestinian reaction — a hand of peace or the fire of terror. To the hand we will react with the olive branch, but to the fire we will retaliate in the most harsh way ever.”

For most of his career, Mr Sharon had led settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza. As recently as two years ago, he said Israel would not give up even small Gaza settlements. “But the changing reality in the nation, region and world made me change my mind,” he said. “We cannot hold on to Gaza forever. More than a million Palestinians live there, doubling their numbers every generation.”

In the most emotional scenes, scores of settlers blocked the gates of Neve Dekalim settlement, some religious, others angry young men wearing orange shirts. One proclaimed: “Who dares to do battle with God?” As other settlers tried to reinforce the Neve Dekalim group, they pleaded with police through the gates. “We are not negotiating with you, we are demanding,” replied the police chief. “Our orders are to keep you out.”

In some small secular settlements such as Peat Sedah and Rafiah Yam there was little need as most settlers had left.

At neighbouring Katif, a religious settlement of 70 families, the army did not even try to enter after being told they would not be welcome. The strategy was mirrored at hardline Kfar Darom, Netzarim, Dugit and Atzmona.

One of the last people to slip into Gaza before the Sunday midnight deadline was a British doctor who moved to Gaza 13 years ago and insisted that he would stay until he was dragged out. Identifying himself only as Michael, a general practitioner originally from Buckie, Grampian, he drove through the Kissufim crossing just ten minutes before it closed forever. “I am a doctor so I am going to stay in to treat people. I will work normally until they come for me,” he said.

Although the army concedes that up to 5,000 far-right protesters may have infiltrated Gaza, commanders said yesterday’s decision to avoid confrontation should not be misinterpreted.

Eival Giladi, a senior adviser to Mr Sharon, told infiltrators that they would be dealt with “in a much more decisive way than families who have been there a long time”, and said the Government expected 700-800 Gaza families to have left by tonight’s midnight deadline.

Shaul Mofaz, the Defence Minister, meanwhile told Israel Army Radio that the much larger West Bank settlements would remain.

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