Settlers clash with Israeli troops

Jewish settlers in the West Bank pelted Israeli soldiers and police with rocks and eggs today, as the troops put up a wall to protect a Palestinian home from settler attack.

Two women settlers were arrested and a third was slightly injured in a scuffle with soldiers, said police spokesman Shlomi Sagi.

Security forces were building a 25-yard long, 13 ft high, barrier around the Palestinian house which overlooks the Jewish enclave of Avraham Avinu in Hebron.

The house was emptied on Israeli army orders shortly after the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence in September 2000.

Police have maintained a regular guard to protect the home against attacks since a Supreme Court ruling reversed the army order, allowing Palestinians to return to the building.

It is undergoing renovation and is not inhabited.