Description

Israeli police officers remove a Palestinian demonstrator from a
protest camp in an area known as E1, which connects the two parts
of the occupied West Bank. March 24, 2013.(Reuters/Muammar Awad)

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Sunday dismantled a protest village set up by Palestinian activists east of Jerusalem last week.

Israeli forces raided the Ahfad Younis village in Eizariya early Sunday, witnesses told Ma'an, forcibly removing around 50 people from the area.

They detained eight people, including Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghouthi, and transferred them to Maale Adumim settlement.

Four people from Jenin were arrested, one from Bilin, one from Bethlehem and one person from Ramallah, witnesses said.

"The Israeli occupation prevents us from approaching our land while settlers are allowed to take control of it," Barghouthi said, vowing that Palestinians would re-build the village.

Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said 200 Israeli police officers moved into the area early on Sunday and removed people at the scene.

Two men and a woman were arrested during the incident, with all equipment and people removed from the area, Rosenfeld said.