NEVE DEKALIM, Gaza Strip - Israeli troops stormed the main synagogue of this Jewish settlement today, one of the last bastions of resistance to the Gaza pullout, to remove about 1,500 protesters inside.

The protesters, who vowed not to leave after repeated warnings by police, locked arms and legs while lying on the floor, making it extremely difficult for the soldiers to carry them away. They grabbed at soldiers trying to remove their comrades, threw water and plastic bottles at them, and chanted, "Jews don't expel Jews!"

Some of the protesters had their arms wrapped in leather tefilin prayer boxes. Rabbis in the crowd wore orange vests identifying them as clergy.

The protesters were carried outside to waiting buses.

Unarmed police entered the compound after hours of unsuccessful negotiations with settler leaders. They poured sand on the ramp after protesters soaked it in cooking oil to make it slippery.

In the nearby settlement of Kfar Darom, hundreds of pullout opponents barricaded themselves behind rolls of barbed wire in the synagogue, and security forces dragged screaming residents out of homes. Settlers elsewhere burned houses, fields and tires in protest.

Capturing the two synagogues - and removing the young extremists inside - would be an important victory for the forces.

On the second day of removing settlers by force, troops encountered stiffer resistance than at the start of the operation. However, security officials said they expected to clear out all 21 Gaza settlements by Tuesday, more than two weeks ahead of schedule.

By nightfall, police expected 18 settlements to be empty.

Today, troops entered several of the most hardline Gaza communities.

In the farming settlement of Netzer Hazani, protesters set fire to barricades, fields and houses, sending a huge plume of black smoke into the air.

Youths in Shirat Hayam, a hard-line beachfront outpost, burned tires and garbage. In nearby Kfar Yam, a Jewish settler armed with an M-16 rifle threatened to open fire on troops if they attempt to evacuate him, Israeli media reported.

On Wednesday, a Jewish extremist in the West Bank shot dead four Palestinians in an apparent attempt to disrupt the Gaza pullout.

In Kfar Darom, the army set up a special command center, and army chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz oversaw the operation. Soldiers formed several cordons around him to shield him from shouting settlers.

Thousands of soldiers entered the settlement at dawn and quickly encircled the synagogue and two nearby buildings. After failed attempts to negotiate a peaceful surrender, troops moved into homes.

In another house, a husband and wife lay on the floor, shrieking and clutching their small children. A soldier participating in the evacuation of a religious school suddenly disobeyed orders and was quickly carried away by troops.

Troops also burst into a nursery school crowded with protesters. People sang and danced as the troops entered, and about two dozen young children played with toys. Troops quickly cleared out the building.

Just a few yards outside Kfar Darom, dozens of Palestinians stood on the roofs of their houses watching the evacuation.

"For the first time in the last few years I'm standing here without any fear that Israelis will shoot at me because their battle today is against themselves," farmer Mohammed Bashir said.