More than 2,000 people took part in a violent demonstration on Road 31 against the Jewish National Fund's planting of trees in the Negev Thursday.

During the protest, protesters threw stones at police forces. The demonstrators blocked the road and the police pushed them back to the nearby village of Al Atrash.

Twelve protesters were injured in the clashes, including two who were evacuated by Magen David Adom (MDA) staff to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva in moderate condition.

Police said: "We will allow the freedom of protest as long as it is conducted in a legal manner, we will act with zero tolerance against disturbances."

The Bedouin riots resumed Thursday despite the compromise reached yesterday by Welfare and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen, under which the tree planting was halted.

Meir Deutsch, CEO of Regavim, told Israel National News: "In the Middle East, we know what happens when someone succumbs to violence and terrorism. It only adds more violence and more terrorism. Hamas welcomes this and so do the extremists in the Negev because they understand that their violence and bullying have paid off. The balance of terror continues and the deterred side is the Israeli side. The next time Israel wants to do something in the Negev, the violence will be much more difficult."

Deutsch cited the rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards central Israel and Jerusalem after the deportation of all Jews from Gush Katif, the buses exploding after the Oslo Accords that transferred territory in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority, as well as the current wave of violence in Judea and Samaria that has accompanied the government's intention to demolish the Homesh yeshiva following the murder of one of the yeshiva's students. All of these, he said, show that threats and terrorism works and therefore guarantee that these will continue in the future.