Three women from Brighton have been arrested while protesting in Palestine.

They were among ten people on a visit organised by the Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group.

The three were detained yesterday by Israeli police while taking part in an action in a village surrounded by Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Protesters claim that settlers and police shot live ammunition at them during the demonstration in Al Mazra'a al Qibliya.

Al Mazra'a is surrounded by seven settlements known collectively as Talmund B which pro-Palestinians claim are illegal under international law.

A spokesman for the Brighton group said members joined with villagers in marching to the land they claim has been illegally occupied. About 40 people crossed a barbed wire fence and started to remove Israeli grape vines and destroy water pipes. As they were leaving, shots ran out and soldiers and settlers shot toward the group.

Kate Harrison, Caroline Riley and Sarah Cobham were arrested and taken to a police station in the settlement of Binyamin.

Villagers told the remaining members of the group they believed that if the British supporters had not been there, people would have been killed.