Israeli police and Israeli Arabs clash

Clashes broke out yesterday in northern Israel where an Israeli Arab spokesman accused Israeli forces of intruding without any warning to scatter demonstrators who protested against the army's plans to convert an area of Arab lands into a military training region for Israeli forces.

The Arab Israelis held a sit-in to protest against the plan of the Israeli Army, which allotted land in another area to the residents.

Israeli sources said that they were obliged to intervene after failing over the course of three weeks to convince the land's owners to leave peacefully.

The demonstrators threw stones and homemade bombs at the Israeli police, while the police used tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets, injuring many demonstrators, including the Mayor of Umm al-Fahm, Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the Islamic movement inside the Israeli lands.

Moreover a number of policemen were injured in the clashes.