Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel commemorated the Land Day on Sunday, an annual protest against land seizures by Israel since 1976.

In the town of Arrabe in northern Israel, where the main rally took place, thousands of people marched, raising Palestinian flags, witnesses told Xinhua.

Some 200 people rallied in the village of Sawawil of the southern Negev desert while other demonstrations took place in some half-dozen towns, including Jaffa and the northern town of Sakhnin.

The Land Day is marked each year since 1976, when six Arabs were shot during demonstrations against land grab in the northern Galilee. It is used by the Arab public, which composes 20 percent of the Israeli population, to protest against "systematic inequality" and discrimination by Israel.

"The challenges confronting the Arab population in Israel are great," Ali Asallah, head of the Arrabe Local Council, said at the rally.

"It includes thousands of demolition orders against housing units in Arab towns, planned land confiscations in the Negev desert, while the state sluggishly approve new housing projects in a pace that doesn't meet the needs of the natural growth rate," he said.

Asallah also called for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as part of the resumed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Palestinian-Israeli talks have not achieved any tangible results since the negotiations resumed in July last year.

The talks ran into a deadlock this week after Israel refused to free the last group of 26 prisoners, out of the 104 prisoners arrested before the two sides signed Oslo peace accords in 1993. Israel has already released 78 prisoners in three groups of 26 prisoners.