By Haitham Tamimi
HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Jewish settlers and Palestinians threw stones in clashes on Monday that injured five in the West Bank city of Hebron where Jews want to stop the eviction of 13 settler families, witnesses said.
Five Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy, were injured, Palestinian medics in the flashpoint city said.
At least two Palestinian cars also were set ablaze in what an Israeli security source described as a riot beside the building where the Jewish families facing eviction have been living for a year and a half.
An Israeli army spokesman said troops at the scene "did their best" to separate the sides.
Hardline Jewish settlers have vowed to resist an Israeli court order to leave the building they insist they bought from a Palestinian.
Settler spokesman David Wilder said a Jewish teenager was attacked by Palestinians earlier in the day, triggering the flare-up.
He said Palestinians hurled stones at settlers from their rooftops and "people here don't believe in turning the other cheek."
Hebron is home to some 650 Jewish settlers who live in fortified enclaves guarded by Israeli troops in the heart of the city of 180,000 Palestinians.
Hundreds of settler supporters, mostly youths, have come to the Jewish enclave in the past week to try to prevent the evacuation of the building, raising tensions.
Settlers moved into the disputed building in March 2007.
Palestinian Faiz Rajabi said the building belongs to him and he has denied selling it to the settlers.
(Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Michael Roddy)
