HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces clashed with protesters in Hebron on Friday at a rally to demand Israel reopen Shuhada street.

Activists gathered at Bab al-Zawyeh in central Hebron to call on Israel to reopen Shuhada street, which was once a main thoroughfare in the city.

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at the rally, and some protesters were taken to hospital by Red Crescent ambulances.

Tamer al-Atrash, a Youth against Settlements activist, criticized the use of force against the peaceful rally, which included a sit-in on Shuhada street.

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that between 300 and 400 Palestinians "hurled rocks" at soldiers, who fired riot dispersal means.

Israel started restricting access to Shuhada street after Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein broke into the Ibrahimi Mosque and shot dead 29 Palestinians in 1994. Israel closed the road during the second intifada, and a military checkpoint restricts Palestinian access to the area.