Israel demolishes Palestinian Bedouin village for 216th time
Al-Araqib first built during Ottoman era, according to Tel Aviv-based NGO
JERUSALEM
Israeli forces on Monday again demolished a Palestinian Bedouin village in the southern Negev region in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli forces stormed the village and brought it to the ground for the 216th time, Aziz al-Touri, a member of the Committee for the Defense of al-Araqib, told Anadolu.
Al-Touri stressed that the village residents are determined to rebuild their homes once again, as they do after every destruction by Israeli forces.
The homes in Al-Araqib, which are inhabited by 22 Palestinian families, are made of wood, plastic, and corrugated iron.
The village was first destroyed in 2010. Israeli authorities claim that the site where it is located falls under "state land."
Al-Araqib residents are Arab citizens of Israel who were displaced in 1951 when the nascent state of Israel claimed the area as "state land."
Zochrot, a Tel Aviv-based NGO, said in a recent report that al-Araqib was first built during the Ottoman era and its lands were purchased by residents.
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.
