Israeli police armed with hacksaws and boltcutters broke through locked gates at the largest Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, as hundreds of protestors continued to clash with authorities over the landmark withdrawal.

Security forces also stopped 500 Jewish "outsiders" from moving into Gaza overnight, and today arrested more than a dozen settlers and fired warning shots at Palestinian children taunting settlers with a Hamas flag.

The forced entry through the main iron gate at Neve Dekalim this morning came ahead of a midnight deadline for settlers to leave voluntarily or face eviction by security forces.

Police used bulldozers to break through the rear gate, which was also sealed by protesters, to allow entry for 120 removal vans for those wanting to evacuate voluntarily.

Around 1,000 police and soldiers stormed into the settlement as hundreds of demonstrators wearing orange - the colour of the anti-disengagement movement - tried to block the path of several removal lorries.

Many settlers were thrown to the floor in the violent pushing and shoving as they threw themselves at the wall of police barring their way.

At least a dozen were arrested, most of them dragged off screaming and kicking as the crowd howled in rage: "Jews don’t evict Jews!" Many settlers broke down in tears and one religious man shouted: "Nazis! Shame on you."

Police fear that non-settlers and extremists are infiltrating the Gaza Strip to stir-up protests. The 500 people arrested last night were trying to slip into the main settlement area of Gush Katif from Israel.

An Israeli army officer was injured in the violence and another 250 militants were cleared away from the area without being arrested.

This morning Israeli soldiers fired warning shots as Palestinian children sprinted to a wall outside a Jewish settlement and placed a flag from militant group Hamas on it.

Palestinian police deployed nearby to prevent such incursions struggled to keep the children away from the wall. The incident in southern Gaza occurred as some 3,000 Hamas supporters marched through the centre of the Palestinian town of Khan Younis to celebrate Israel’s pullout.

In some areas the security forces have had a much easier time. The army said two of the four small settlements in the northern West Bank are already empty.

Today a trickle of cars packed with belongings made its way out of Gaza through the main Kissufim crossing, which has been closed to incoming civilian traffic since midnight on Sunday when the disengagement plan started.

But the authorities face an inevitable confrontation with diehard settlers who appear determined to hang on to the bitter end in some of the settlements which have sprung up during the course of Israel’s 38-year occupation of the territory.

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli Prime Minister, who conceived the first ever Israeli pullout from occupied Palestinian land, told settlers in an address to the nation last night that he understood their anguish but insisted that the move would serve to strengthen the Jewish state.

He added: "The world awaits the Palestinian response - a hand offered in peace or continued terrorist fire. To a hand offered in peace, we will respond with an olive branch. But if they choose fire, we will respond with fire, more severe than ever."

Palestinians are insisting that much larger pullouts from the West Bank must be carried out by Israel if there is to be any chance of peace.

They fear that Mr Sharon sees the Gaza pullout as an opportunity to strengthen Israel’s hold on West Bank settlement blocs, which the Palestinians regard as an integral part of their promised future state.

Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Defence Minister, announced that to improve security Israel will not allow Palestinians to enter the Gaza Strip settlements until a month after they are cleared of all Jewish settlers.

Mr Mofaz warned settlers and their ultra-nationalist supporters not to resist the pullout and added: "From today, anyone who interferes with the evacuation will be arrested."

He said of the settlers: "We do not think they will raise a hand against soldiers and police officers. We think that the proportion of people who want to leave voluntarily is high."

The operation to clear all the settlers from Gaza is due to be completed in the first week of September.

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