Hebron settlers evicted by force

Israeli forces have begun evacuating Jewish settlers from a disputed building in the West Bank city of Hebron, witnesses say.

Israeli television footage showed police dragging settlers out of the building. Hundreds of officers were involved in the operation.

The settlers have been refusing to leave the house, in defiance of an Israeli Supreme Court order.

Earlier the Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met the group.

The settlers have been involved in days of days of stone-throwing clashes with Palestinians.

Hundreds of their supporters and activists have flocked to the area to show their solidarity with the building's occupiers.

Israeli defence officials have expressed fears the Hebron tensions will spill to other areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.