Peace Now on Saturday called on the attorney general to open a criminal investigation into the headquarters of the group behind protesters' move Friday to spend the Sabbath at the ruins of the former settlement, Army Radio reported.

Dozens of right-wing activists returned on Friday evening to the site, hours after their forced evacuation by Israel Defense Forces troops and police.

According to the peace movement, the legal system's inactivity with regards to the protesters will allow them to create facts on the ground, the radio reported.

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The police and soldiers on Friday forcibly removed around 100 protesters who had arrived at the ruins of the site with the goal of spending the Sabbath there.

A spokesman for the protesters stated that security forces used violent means during the evacuation.

Police spokesman Moshe Pinchi said between 70 to 100 people attempted to return to the area. Pinchi said seven people were arrested and held for questioning. Around 30 to 40 other protesters are believed to have fled to the nearby hills that surround the area.

Most of the protesters returned to the site later in the evening.

IDF sources said they completed the evacuation before sundown, when the Sabbath begins, and as part of the evacuation, removed all the equipment the protesters brought with them in order to spend the night.

In spite of the ban issued by Defense Minister Amir Peretz and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, thousands of settlers and right-wing activists arrived at the ruins on Independence Day for a protest supporting the rebuilding of the settlement which was evacuated as part of the Gaza Disengagement in August 2005.

The army tried to erect roadblocks to block the procession of protesters, but the low number of security forces deployed were only capable of preventing the arrival of vehicles to the area.

The protest was organized by the Homesh First organization, an umbrella group which includes a number of right-wing organizations and whose membership includes some members of the Knesset. According to event organizers, the goal of the march was to "repair the mistake of evacuating and destroying settlements."

Thousands heeded the organizers' call to took part in the march, with most of them arriving from the nearby settlement of Shavei Shomron. The IDF set up roadblocks in the area of settlement south of Homesh, and managed to prevent the passage of vehicles.

Nonetheless, most of the marchers were able to arrive at the ruins by taking side routes. For the most part, the IDF avoided confrontation with those who tried to circumvent their efforts at stopping the march.

IDF sources estimate that between 2,000 and 3,000 people took part in the protest, while event organizers say the figure was closer to 15,000. Among the protesters were around 200 Likud activists and Nobel Prize Laureate Professor Yisrael Auman.