At least 19 people were injured Sunday as police used force to disperse hundreds of activists who tried to reach the Israel-controlled border with the West Bank to mark Nakba Day, the official Petra news agency reported.

The agency claimed that 11 activists and 8 policemen were hurt as the security authorities intervened to end clashes between participants in a rally staged by a group calling itself the May 15 Youth and citizens living in the Karameh area, a few hundred meters from the border.

Open gallery view Palestinian refugees in Amman gesture during an anti-Israel demonstration, May 13, 2011. Credit: Reuters

Activists said that police used teargas, beat participants and broke their cars and cameras to prevent them from proceeding to the King Hussein Crossing Point on the Jordan River.

Hundreds of people belonging to trade unions, opposition parties and civic society organizations demonstrated in front of the UN office in Amman in support of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to Israel.