HEBRON (West Bank) - ISRAELI security forces on Thursday began dragging Jewish settlers out of one of the most volatile flashpoints in the West Bank: a disputed house in the biblical town of Hebron.

Some 600 soldiers and policemen started to evict the settlers, who responded by throwing stones, eggs and cleaning fluid. TV images showed two young girls punching and hitting soldiers. Security forces in full riot gear used stun grenades and tear gas to repel the settlers.

Israel's rescue service says eight people on both sides were hurt. Local media said one of the settlers sustained serious head wounds.

The security forces took over the house by surprise in a five-minute operation. Then they began dragging out the 250 people inside. Their hands and legs held by teams of officers, the settlers were taken out one by one.

Nearby, fist fights broke out between settler youths and Palestinians in the area.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he ordered the army to evict the settlers after all attempts to persuade to leave peacefully failed.

More than a dozen settler families took over the house in March 2007 and remained there despite a series of eviction orders.

About 600 of Israel's most extreme settlers have taken up residence in the center of Hebron, living in the midst of 170,000 Palestinians.

The settlers, fearful of a possible evacuation, have stepped up their violence in recent months.

Hebron is the traditional burial site of Abraham, the shared patriarch of both Jews and Muslims. -- AP