Five Palestinians were injured on Saturday afternoon when Israeli forces attacked a demonstration calling for stopping settlement expansion in the West Bank city of Hebron, witnesses said.

The five sustained bruises and swelling when the Israeli soldiers used their gun butts and sticks to attack farmers and international peace activists who were protesting in the south of the city, said Mohammed Awwad, a protestor.

The activists called for the march after Israeli border police and the army prevented Palestinian farmers from making way to their fields which are located near an Israeli settlement in Beit Ummar neighborhood in southern Hebron.

The farmers said they had been told by the Israeli army that the area was a closed military zone, an announcement that fueled speculation that their land would be annexed to the nearby settlement.

On Monday, the Jewish settlers who live in Bet Ayen settlement in Beit Ummar burnt nearly 37 acres of fields, damaging grapes and walnut trees.

Unlike the rest of the West Bank cities, the Israeli settlements are located around or inside the Palestinian communities and neighborhoods in Hebron, promoting frequent clashes between the Arab residents and the settlers.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) refuses to resume peace talks with Israel unless the Jewish state stops all forms of settlement activities in the West Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2009)