JERUSALEM �?Security forces assigned to Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip pullout and northern West Bank will outnumber the settlers they evacuate five to one, Israel's defense minister said Tuesday.

"About 41,000 male and female soldiers will take part in the evacuation, and 3,800 police," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told a stormy session of lawmakers, Jewish settlers and ministry officials on Israel's so-called "disengagement."

Some 9,000 settlers live in those areas. But with settler resistance to the opposition fierce, security forces are bracing for a tough, and possibly violent evacuation.

Security officials originally said about 30,000 soldiers would take part in the operation. But one official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his position, said the number of soldiers increased because the duration of the pullout has been shortened to four weeks from 12, and police needed greater reinforcement.

Seventeen reserve battalions will replace conscripts and paramilitary police who will be deployed to Gaza for the withdrawal, Mofaz said.

Troops are to be positioned in six circles, with police dominating the inner one, and a mix of soldiers and police in the outermost circle, Mofaz said.

Ad hoc divisions have been created from the military's various forces to provide more staffing power for the withdrawal, security officials said.

Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi confirmed in his remarks to the committee that police plan to allot some 4,000 officers to participate directly in the pullout. Police spokesman Avi Zelba said an undetermined number of additional forces would be assigned to handle civil disobedience by pullout opponents.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the meeting that Israel would withdraw from Gaza on schedule, despite fierce opposition to the plan by activists who clashed with police, soldiers and Palestinians last week.

And he made it clear that the government did not intend to put up with violent protests.

"It is permissible to protest and demonstrate, but the state of Israel will not agree that roads be blocked, that oil and nails be thrown on the roads and that police and soldiers be beaten," Sharon said. "We will not agree to this in any way."

Attorney General Meni Mazuz said some 1,000 protesters had been arrested in road protests �?"not just people who were just waving flags, but people who had full gas canisters and were planning to blow them up" on a major highway during rush hour.

"This is not legitimate resistance in a democracy or any country," Mazuz said.

Sharon also told the committee that Israel has made it clear to the Palestinian Authority that it would respond "harshly" if Palestinian militants fire on settlers and soldiers during the pullout.

"If there is fire during the evacuation, our response will be very harsh, possibly so harsh that it would destroy the whole process," he said.

But while he said that "the evacuation won't take place under fire," he added, "I do not intend that the evacuation won't take place." And Mofaz said the "principle is that the fire will be stopped, not the disengagement."

Mofaz and his Palestinian counterpart, Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, are to meet Tuesday night to discuss coordinating the withdrawal, Palestinian officials said.

Israel initially planed the pullout as a unilateral move but later said it wanted to coordinate with the Palestinians to prevent violence during the operation and ensure a smooth handover.

A special 5,000-member Palestinian security force assigned to the withdrawal began training Monday.

Just six weeks ahead of the pullout, settlers are increasingly negotiating relocation compensation packages with the government �?but the numbers remain small relative to the 1,800 families who are to be uprooted.

Yonatan Bassi, the head of the state agency overseeing civilian aspects of the withdrawal, said the government has received 396 requests for a piece of the US$930 million (778 million euros ) the government has earmarked to compensate settlers. Four weeks ago, Bassi reported that just 199 families and businesses had tapped the fund.

As the pace of requests heats up, the government is working to conclude two land deals that would allow settlers to relocate to two pieces of choice property in the southern Negev, not far from Gaza, Bassi said.

The government is negotiating with almost every Gaza settlement, in some cases behind the scenes, Bassi said. The subterfuge is necessary because settler leaders have ordered their followers to boycott the government's evacuation program.

Pullout opponents have urged settlers not to cooperate with the withdrawal, and some settlers who have said they are ready to go say they have been threatened and ostracized.

Separately, Israel's military chief, Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, cautioned soldiers against disobeying evacuation orders.

"Our commanders must understand that the challenge they are facing is no less difficult than fighting an enemy," Halutz told troops. "This is not our enemy, but if people start picking and choosing their missions, then what will become of us?"

He spoke at the hotel in Gaza that troops stormed last week to flush out withdrawal opponents who had barricaded themselves inside.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants were prevented from smuggling arms from Egypt into the Gaza Strip in May and June, boding well for the Gaza withdrawal, lawmaker Ran Cohen quoted Israel's military intelligence chief as saying.

Cohen said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, speaking at a meeting of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, attributed the success to close cooperation between Israeli, Egyptian and newly deployed Palestinian forces in the border area.

Israel had struggled to prevent the smuggling, mostly through tunnels under the border. Israel is also in talks with Egypt over the deployment of 700 Egyptian border guards in the area after the Israeli pullback.