Israeli security forces clashed Wednesday with anti-pullout right-wing activists who have barricaded themselves inside an abandoned building in a Palestinian village adjacent to the Gush Katif settlement in Gaza, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

The clashes in the outpost, named Tal Yam, erupted after police arrested seven young settlers suspected of throwing stones and injuring Palestinian residents in the area.

Following the arrests, a large group of activists arrived at the scene and encircled the police and military forces.

A large brawl immediately ensued, with youths climbing on the police vehicles, spreading nails on the ground and shoving troops.

A short while after the clashes ended, the right-wing activists started throwing stones at local Palestinians. Israel Defense Forces troops fired in the air in a bid to stop it.

Meanwhile, a Jewish settler in Gush Katif on Wednesday began dismantling his greenhouses, the first member of the settlement's

agricultural community to take steps to prepare for the evacuation scheduled to begin in mid August.

Farmer Salim Michaeli said he was the first Gaza farmer to actively prepare for the withdrawal and that he was folding up his 60 greenhouses while negotiating with the government over a new place for them inside Israel.

Gush Katif is one of the most profitable farming areas among the settlements, exporting such goods as tomatoes and carnations to Europe.

Israel plans to evacuate all the 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank this summer.

The plan, aimed at "disengaging" from conflicts with the Palestinians, has met stepped-up protests although most of the Israelis support it.

Source: Xinhua