Dusk was gathering around the date palms of Ein Hijleh when the Israeli police 4x4 roared past the protest village, sending up clouds of white dust that obscured the view of the golden cupola of the nearby monastery of Saint Gerassimos.

"Look at that," a Palestinian activist shouted. "They're just doing it to remind us that they're here and to say, 'Fuck you.'"

Only hours later, hundreds of police and troops returned on Friday morning to force some 250 Palestinians off the site, close to Jericho and the Dead Sea, after a week of peaceful direct action designed to dramatise their claim to the land and to protest against peace talks they fear will consolidate rather than end the 46-year occupation by Israel.

Anonymous Palestine (@PalAnonymous) Last night Nearly 1000 soldiers supported by bulldozers break into the village of #EinHijleh and assault everybody pic.twitter.com/xJSBzCjPbi

"No unusual events" took place, a laconic (IDF) Israel Defence Forces statement reported later, but the Palestinians said the Israelis had fired flares and sound grenades, and had beaten and arrested several protesters. Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, described the evacuation as "brutal" and protested that Palestine TV had been prevented from broadcasting during the raid.

Still, it can hardly have been a surprise: similar media-friendly Palestinian events, including the camp set up at Bab al-Shams near Jerusalem, were tolerated by the Israelis for just a few days before being broken up last year.

Ein Hijleh was chosen both for its location and symbolism by the Palestinian Popular Committees (PPC), which have little patience with slow-moving negotiations they do not believe will give them independence or freedom. Depopulated in the 1967 war, when Israel conquered the West Bank from Jordan, the village's abandoned stone houses and graceful palms were a picturesque backdrop for a display of participatory political theatre.

People at the Ein Hijleh camp on Wednesday 5 February. Photograph: Hamde Abu Rahma/NurPhoto/Corbis

"Obviously the leadership have achieved nothing in terms of restoring Palestinian rights," said Diana Alzeer, a PPC spokeswoman. "We have decided to reclaim this village and live here to reject the current negotiations and the [John] Kerry plan and Israel's policy of annexing the Jordan valley. What is happening here is ethnic cleansing. Houses are being demolished and natural resources are being used by Israeli settlers. Our message is that we are defending our rights and existence on this land."

On the final day of its short revived existence, Ein Hijleh was a hive of purposeful activity with a pioneering feel – residents planted citrus saplings, repaired thatched roofs and cleared the ground. Coffee was brewed on an open fire and served to visitors, including bigwigs from Palestinian government ministries in Ramallah, journalists, a couple of Catalans and two Danes taking a break from teaching in Bethlehem. In the afternoon, it was bathed in winter sunshine, with stunning views of the mountains rising beyond the Jordan river. At night it is freezing.

A protester holds the Palestinian flag in Ein Hijleh. Photograph: Hamde Abu Rahma/NurPhoto/Corbis

Strung across the village's largest structure, an Arabic banner proclaimed: "State of Palestine, Ein Hijleh welcomes you". A youthful Yasser Arafat looked down from posters adorned with his famous slogan: "Do not let the olive branch fall from my hands" – a reminder that these days, Palestinian attacks on Israel are largely the preserve of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers patrolling through Ein Hijleh. Photograph: Hamde Abu Rahma/NurPhoto/Corbis

The Israeli military presence was low key – just a couple of jeeps on the main road, preventing direct access. But the water pipes were cut, reinforcing a sense of siege. On Friday morning an Israeli army bulldozer was removing all traces of the week's activities.

Like most of the Jordan valley, Ein Hijleh is in Area C, the 60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control according to the Oslo accords.

"If you ask a standard Israeli about it they would think it is part of Israel," said Irene Nasser, another activist. "This is Palestinian land and our presence here is to reclaim it and hold on to it. This is about the people taking things into their own hands." Hamza Jawabari, a student from a refugee camp near Nablus, said: "We are here to return the village to life and make sure it is not confiscated. It is difficult, but, al-hamdulillah [God willing]we are steadfast."

A Palestinian activist seen through a wall in Ein Hijleh. The graffiti reads 'There is something worth living on this land for'. Photograph: Mahmoud Illean/ /Demotix/Corbis

The Ein Hijleh protest is part of a larger campaign the popular committees have named Milh al-Ard (the Arabic for "salt of the earth") – with a biblical resonance meant to highlight Muslim-Christian solidarity. In the end, there was both defiance and sadness.

"We felt we had liberated a small piece of land," Alzeer said on Friday. "We were singing and happy. We didn't expect the Israelis would come. But maybe they thought it was better to end it before it got too big."