Israeli occupation authorities demolished Al-Araqib for the 216th time

The Israeli authorities, with the protection of large forces of the police and its units, demolished, on Monday morning, the tents of the residents of the town of Al-Araqib, which is denied recognition and threatened with uprooting and displacement in the Negev region, for the 216th time in a row, since its first demolition on July 27, 2010.

In the early morning hours, the police forces stormed the town of Al-Araqib, to provide security for the Israeli bulldozers that demolished the homes and tents of the town, which were demolished for the fifth time since the beginning of the year 2023, noting that the authorities demolished the homes of the residents of Al-Araqib for the 215th time, on April 3, 2023.

And every time the Israeli authorities demolish Al-Araqib, the people re-erect their tents, each time from wood and nylon covering, to protect them from the bitter cold in the winter and the scorching heat in the summer, and to confront the plans to uproot and displace them from their land.

The Israeli authorities have continued to demolish Al-Araqib since 2010 in their repeated attempts to push the villagers to frustration and despair and to displace them from their lands.

The people of Al-Araqib complain that the police unit “Yoav” affiliated with the so-called “Negev Development Authority” responsible for carrying out house demolitions in Arab towns in the Negev, and the so-called “Israel Land Administration” continue to storm the village and provocatively explore its conditions, then demolish its modest homes and displace children and women. and the elderly.

Al-Araqib residents affirm that the practices of the Israeli authorities and their continued demolition of the homes of the villagers will not discourage us from staying and steadfastness on the land of our fathers and grandfathers.

There are 22 families left in Al-Araqib, numbering about 86 people, who live from livestock breeding and desert agriculture. In the 1970s, residents were able, according to the laws and conditions of the Israeli authorities, to prove their right to own 1,250 dunams out of thousands of dunams of land.