ISRAEL STARTS DEMOLISHING 47 BEDOUIN HOMES WITHOUT OFFERING PROMISED ALTERNATIVE HOUSING

Israel Starts Demolishing 47 Bedouin Homes Without Offering Promised Alternative Housing

The Israeli government intends to build a highway at the location of the village, ordering hundreds residents to relocate to a nearby town. The displaced Bedouins say that they will have to sleep in tents, as far-right minister Ben-Gvir hailed the demolitions as 'an important move of sovereignty'

May 08th, 21PM May 08th, 21PM

Israel started on Wednesday to tear down houses in the Bedouin village of Wadi Khalil in the Negev in order to build a section of Highway 6 on it, without providing alternative housing for the residents.

Large police forces accompanied the work teams that tore down houses in the unrecognized village, as residents protested against the forced evacuation. The authorities have issued 47 demolition orders on village houses, in a bid to compel some 320 residents to move to a neighborhood in the Umm Batin community, but so far no houses have been built there for the evacuees.

Some of the protesters set their houses on fire. "I'd rather the house burns down," said Ali Abu Isa, 30. "Better than see a tractor destroying it."

The road isn't expected to be built soon, and the state has not budgeted the project. As part of the legal battle for their homes, the villagers agreed to move to Mitla, a neighborhood near Tel Sheva, but it hasn't been build yet either.

The neighborhood's construction requires the interior minister's approval, but this approval has not been granted for the last two years.

The authorities tried to force the residents to move to Umm Batin, but residents say that a family who claims ownership on the land allocated for them is threatening the lives of families that are supposed to move to the new neighborhood, and refuse to move there.

The residents said they would have to spend Wednesday night in tents. Despite this, the Israel Land Authority said "the residents have a legal, available solution."

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said on Wednesday morning the demolitions were "an important move of sovereignty and governance."

His office said, "as the minister promised, there's a considerable increase in demolitions of illegal houses in the Negev and the minister is proud to lead this policy and is doing it every week. Every outlaw must know the Negev's lands are not no man's land, and Israel will fight all out against those who take over lands and try to set reality on the ground."

"An event of this magnitude hasn't occurred before in the Negev," said the chairman of The Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages of Negev, Atiya Alasam. "Not regarding the amount of forces, the scope of the destruction and the hatred."

The council said: "As of tomorrow night, hundreds of residents will not have a roof to sleep under. A proper democracy cannot do this to its citizens, and Israel wouldn't think of doing it to its Jewish citizens."

MK Walid Alhushala (Ra'am) said the houses' demolition is "a dangerous move carried out by those who wish to destroy, not only the neighborhood but the entire fabric of shared life in the Negev."

The Israel Land Authority said: "The authority is acting to return the land to the public and to protect the national infrastructure, according to the planning. The said structures were built without a permit and contrary to the plan on state land intended for national infrastructure. There is no possibility of legitimizing the illegal construction on the site."

2024-05-08T18:02:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd