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government on Wednesday said it will negotiateÌýwith Ìýover a controversial right-wingÌýtree-planting project in the Ìý(Naqab) desert thatÌýthreatens Palestinians'Ìýland and has sowed discordÌýwithinÌýthe country's fragile coalition.

A statement from Social Affairs Minister Meir Cohen said "a compromise has been reached according to which the planting work will be completed today [Wednesday]Ìýas planned and starting tomorrow, accelerated negotiations will take place."

Protesters were confronted byÌýforces on Tuesday evening and WednesdayÌýas they attempted to defend villages against encroachment and aggression. At leastÌý18 Ìýwere made.

The majority of the detainees in the NegevÌýwere minors, and Israeli forces physically assaulted them before arresting them, according to the officialÌýPalestinian news agencyÌýWafa.

Despite Cohen's statement, ±õ²õ°ù²¹±ð±ô¾±Ìýpolice saidÌýmore arrests were made on Wednesday evening as protests seeminglyÌýcontinued.

Israeli security used stun grenades in an attempt to disperse around 200 Bedouin demonstrators during a Wednesday confrontation, according to anÌýAFP journalist.

On Monday, theÌýJewish National Fund (JNF), aÌý,Ìýsent diggers and bulldozersÌýaccompanied by Israeli police into the villages ofÌýNaqa Ber Al-Saba and Al-Atrash. The JNF seeks to plant a forest onÌýÌýin the Negev.

The conflict over planting trees in southern Israel'sÌýarid Negev - home to Bedouin villages unrecognised by the state - has divided Israel's coalition government, led by right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

Bennett's government counts on backing from Mansour Abbas, leader of the Palestinian-Islamist Raam or United Arab List party. The United ArabÌýList'sÌýcore political support comes from BedouinÌýcitizens of Israel in the Negev.

Abbas told Israel's Channel 12 news on Tuesday that his party will not vote with the coalition unless the tree planting is halted and formal negotiations with Bedouin leaders are launched to seek a compromise.

"Trees are not more important than human beings," Abbas tweeted.

For students, the coronavirus pandemic is a stark reminder of Israel's inequality'

— °®Âþµº (@The_NewArab)

TheÌýfar-right, settler-alignedÌýRegavim group called on Bennett's government "to take a firm position against the Raam Party's threats, to ensure that tree planting projects... are carried out as planned."

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist, urged a halt to the tree planting. Despite successive governments' pledges of equitable Negev investment, "the Bedouin problem has been forsaken", he said in a statement.

Nearly half of Israel's 300,000 Palestinian Bedouins, who are part of Israel's 20 percent Palestinian minority,Ìýlive in the Negev.

They face regular home demolitions and lack of access to basic services - including electricity, water and sanitation - challenges insisted be addressed in exchange for backing Bennett's government.

(AFP, AP, Reuters,Ìý°®Âþµº)