JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces raided the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem on Sunday and forcibly evicted crowds who had gathered to express solidarity with Gaza and commemorate the death of late president Yasser Arafat, a Fatah official said.

Dimitri Deliani, a member of the Fatah party's revolutionary council, told Ma'an that soldiers stormed the theater located near the American Colony Hotel and and evacuated the facility.

Israeli police officers left a military order on the main gates saying that the building would be sealed and inaccessible for 24 hours, Deliani added.

Israeli forces also raided a nearby meeting which had convened to discuss theater related issues.