Palestinian sources said that the occupiers from Havat Maon settlement outpost attacked the village, to the south of Hebron. The sources said the clash broke out because the settlers broke into one of their homes, attacked the women, and committed acts of vandalism before fleeing the scene.

The sources said a pregnant woman sustained injuries after violent clashes erupted between the local Palestinians and the occupiers.

For its part, the Israeli sources said that a settler from Havat Maon was lightly to moderately injured by a stone thrown at him during the clashes. He was evacuated to the Israeli hospital of Soroka in Beersheba to receive treatment.

Activists from the Jewish-Arab rights group Ta'ayush said that an Israeli force arrived at the scene led by a lieutenant-colonel who heard their claims and then ordered them to disperse, cocking his weapon when they refused.

Meanwhile, the Israeli forces declared the West Bank village of Irak Burin, to the south of Nablus, a closed military zone.

Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official monitoring settler activity in the northern West Bank, said that Israeli forces handed the villagers a military order banning them, journalists and foreign peace activists from entering their agricultural lands in the area.

Daghlas added that every Saturday occupiers from nearby settlement of Yitzhar come to the village, attack the locals and destroy property, leading to clashes with the Palestinians.

According to the order, "Any one who violates the order will be arrested."

The development came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is touring several Western countries in bid to revive the stalling peace process.