Israeli authorities destroyed about 50 Bedouin houses in the Negev desert on Wednesday, with Israel’s far-right national security minister calling the houses “illegal construction,” an AFP reporter reported.
Bulldozers leveled houses in the village of Wadi al-Khalil, sparking outrage among members of the community of more than 500 people.
“There are more than 500 people here. Children and women have nowhere to go,” said resident Sleiman Abu Asa.
“They are demolishing our houses and leaving us trapped outside,” he added, while police were deployed to monitor the operation.
“We don’t deserve this. We’ve been looking for a solution for years, hoping for a fair solution, but the state has blocked all of our options.”
Israel considers the houses built in Wadi Khalil illegal.
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gweir reiterated this in remarks posted online on Wednesday.
He said the houses in the Khalil Valley were “illegal construction” and warned anyone “breaking the law” in Israel’s southern desert in the Negev.
He said the breach was an “important step” to show that the government’s authority would not be challenged.
Ben Gwire said: “Police will target anyone who seizes land and tries to establish an alternative reality there.”
Before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the Negev Desert was home to approximately 92,000 Bedouins. But after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, only 11,000 remained in Israel, according to Adalah, an advocacy group for Israel’s Arab minority.
Many of them refused to resettle in the city, and the Bedouin have since continued to face difficulties in Israeli society.
Today, there are about 300,000 people, half of whom live in cities and half in villages not recognized by Israel, according to Adala.
These villages lack the most basic services, such as garbage collection.
According to Arab-Israeli activist Taleb Sana, a total of 48 houses were razed to the ground by Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday, “leaving children and women homeless.”
“Entire villages were razed to the ground just because the residents were Arabs,” he said, and “under the pretext of unlicensed construction.”
According to Sanaa, Israel “does not allow citizens to obtain building permits and then demolish their homes on the pretext of lack of permits.”
“We don’t deserve to be treated like this,” Abu Assa said.
He added: “We have been looking for a solution for years, hoping for a fair solution, but the state has blocked all our options.”
bur-al/ayv/hkb/imm
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.