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BEERSHEBA, Israel (AFP) -- Israeli police said they detained 15 Bedouin as hundreds of the tribesmen and women marched Monday in the city of Beersheba to protest a government plan to resettle them.

The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, which represents Arab communities in Israel, had called for a day of "angry strikes" including demonstrations in 15 cities to denounce the plan.

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said about 800 people took part in the main demonstration in Beersheba, while Arab Israeli MP Jamal Zahalka said more than 1,000 attended.

"We called for a peaceful protest in which more than 1,000 people took part but the police used force. They tried to beat a girl with clubs but when I tried to protect her they beat me up as well," Zahalka told AFP.

But Samri told AFP that "the protesters attacked policemen and three of them were slightly injured".

Fifteen protesters were detained following the clashes.

The security forces also detained 14 demonstrators among hundreds who blocked a road and threw stones at them in Sakhin, an Arab town in northern Israel, added Samri.

Later in the evening about 100 protesters demonstrated in East Jerusalem outside Damascus Gates, one of the doors to the Old City.

Clashes broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinians, with Israel arresting several people, witnesses said.

At least 50 Palestinians were injured, including a pregnant woman who dislocated her shoulder, as Israeli forces assaulted demonstrators, a Palestinian medical official said.

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