4 injured in anti-Prawer protests in the Negev

Four were wounded and two detained in clashes that broke out on Sunday morning between Israeli police and protesters opposed to the visit of a Knesset committee in the Negev region.

The clashes broke out as a result of protests coordinated by the High Steering Committee of the Arabs of the Negev as part of a strike against the committee's visit to Palestinian villages in southern Israel.

Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset Talab Abu Arar accused police of trying to intimidate protesters who are demanding their rights and he condemned the "assaulting, injuring, and arresting" of protestors by Israeli forces.

The protests were launched against the visit of the Interior Committee, one of the central Israeli government bodies working to accelerate the implementation of the Prawer Plan, the High Steering Committee said.

The Prawer Plan, if implemented, would displace tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins from their homes across the Negev, the southern region of Israel.

The Plan has been the target of a widespread mobilization across Palestinian society and around the world.

Abu Arar said that most of the participants in the committee's tour are government employees that support the implementation of the Prawer Plan.

He said that government officials did not listen to any Arabs, not even Arab leaders of the local government in formulating the plan, adding that "this shows that the Israeli government deals with Arabs as enemies.