In pictures: Hebron settlers fight eviction

Tensions in Hebron approached boiling point as Israeli settlers prepared to battle a court-ordered eviction from an occupied house in the West Bank city.

Israel called in 300 riot police to rein in the young settlers, who hurled stones at both Palestinians and the Israeli soldiers guarding the four-storey structure that houses around 100 settlers.

Palestinians pointed out stars of David daubed on mosques and the smashed windows of a Palestinian home. Twenty people have been injured in the violence.

The building - which settlers dub the "House of Peace" - is in a settler enclave in a city where around 600 Jews live under military guard among 150,000 Palestinians.

Settlers moved in without government authorisation early last year. They say they purchased the property from a Palestinian. He says the deal never went through.

As the violence escalated, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed the government would enforce the supreme court order to evict the settlers.

The West Bank is dotted with around 100 settler outposts, all considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

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