Dozens of Israeli settlers have attacked a house in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron in protest against the release of a man in the recent Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap.

Israeli soldiers on Saturday clashed with the settlers as the army moved in to try to keep the would-be assailants away from the house.

They were trying to get at Hani Jaber, who had been freed after 18 years in an Israeli jail for killing a settler from Kiryat Arba.

Residents of that Jewish settlement adjacent to Hebron had put a $100,000 price tag on Jaber's life after he was set free.

The 35-year-old had been sentenced to two life sentences for the killing.

"Today, since this morning, the settlers have been attacking us frequently and they were pointing at this house and saying this was the house of the killer Hani Jaber and we were confused," said resident Arif Jaber.

"About half an hour go, around 250 settlers attacked the house," he said.

Around 800 Israeli settlers live among 30,000 Palestinians in the parts of Hebron that are under Israeli control.

All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

PHOTO  CAPTION

Israeli soldiers clashed with settlers while trying to keep them away from Jaber's house in Hebron

Al Jazeera