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Israel destroys Negev village for 184th time, displacing Palestinians

Villagers have rebuilt their destroyed homes in Al Araqib village on each occasion, using materials that make for easy reconstruction, saying they have lived there since Ottoman times.

AFP

A woman collects firewood in the unrecognised Bedouin village of Tel Arad, which has no electricity or running water, in Israel's Negev desert on February 24, 2021.

Israeli authorities have demolished a Palestinian Bedouin village in the southern Negev region again.

"The Israeli authorities demolished the Al Araqib village for the 184th time," Aziz al Touri, a member of the Committee for the Defense of Al Araqib, told Anadolu Agency.

Touri said the demolition was the ninth since the beginning of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The village was previously demolished on February 17.

Homes in Al Araqib, which are inhabited by 22 Palestinian families, are built of wood, plastic, and corrugated iron.

Touri confirmed that the villagers intended to rebuild their destroyed dwellings and other structures.

Residents to rebuild

The village was first destroyed in 2010 and every time after the demolishing, it has been rebuilt. Israeli authorities claim that the site where it's located falls under "state land."

Israeli authorities seek to seize control of the lands and expel its residents, with dozens of villages and Bedouin communities facing the same threat in the Negev area, according to Zochrot.

The country plans to build Jewish towns in their place. Israel does not "recognise" the village, but its residents point out that they own the land and have done since the Ottoman period, decades before Israel was created in occupied Palestine. They intend to remain there despite the repeated demolitions.

SOURCE: AA