Dozens of Jewish activists have set up a new outpost in the Gaza Strip at the site where Israeli soldiers demolished abandoned buildings.

Activists returned to the site near the Gush Katif settlement bloc overnight, set up tents on top of the rubble and named the encampment Tal Yam.

Sunday, 10 Israeli civilians and 10 soldiers and police officers were slightly injured during a scuffle that broke out when authorities bulldozed a row of abandoned houses.

Israel wanted the buildings demolished to prevent opponents of the Gaza pullout plan from using them as a base of resistance during the withdrawal expected in August.

Israel plans to remove thousands of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank settlements.