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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli police detained 12 Palestinians citizens of Israel in the Negev at dawn on Sunday over suspicions of being involved in a rock-throwing incident.

Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri said in a statement that the 12 individuals, all in their twenties and thirties, were suspected of throwing rocks at police vehicles that were chasing a car without license plates in the town of Rahat on Thursday.

An Israeli police officer was reportedly injured in the incident, and three police vehicles were damaged, al-Samri added.

Israel detains hundreds of Palestinians for alleged stone throwing every year.

Palestinian stone throwers face harsh penalties by Israeli authorities, with Israel passing a laws in 2015 allowing for up to 20 years in prison if charged with throwing stones at vehicles and a minimum of three years for the act of throwing a stone at an Israeli -- legislation rights groups say was designed specifically to target Palestinians, as Israelis and settlers are rarely prosecuted under the same standards of the law.