Palm Beach Hotel, Gaza Strip ? Israeli forces stormed a Gaza Strip hotel Thursday where dozens of Jewish squatters were holed up to disrupt this summer’s Israeli withdrawal, in a quick operation that could serve as a blueprint for the pullout itself.

Struggling and shouting as soldiers lifted them from the floor of the hotel dining room and carried them outside, the squatters quickly surrendered to the overwhelming numbers of security forces.

The showdown was an early test of Israel’s ability to rein in its own militants after pressuring the Palestinians to do the same.

The squatters, including well-known West Bank settlers repeatedly arrested for harassing Palestinians and soldiers, had insisted they would never be taken out alive, but the evacuation took only a few minutes and no shots were fired. Police with clubs hauled the protesters out as armed soldiers ringed the compound.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called the squatters “hooligans” and pledged Thursday: “Preparations for disengagement and the disengagement itself will go ahead as planned with no hesitation. This is a test of the nation’s authority, and the nation will pass the test with honor.”