The Israeli forces demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqeeb in the Negev region of southern Israel for the 112th time on Tuesday.
Israeli bulldozers escorted by Israeli police raided the village which is “unrecognized” by the Israeli authorities in the morning and started the demolition while Israeli police closed all entrances leading to the village.
Al-Araqeeb is one of 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by the Israeli authorities.
Rights groups said that the demolition of al-Araqeeb and other unrecognized Bedouin villages is a central Israeli policy aimed at removing the indigenous Palestinian population from the Negev and transferring them to government-zoned townships to make room for the expansion of Jewish-only towns.
Israeli authorities have also refused to connect unrecognized Bedouin villages to the national water and electricity grids while excluding the communities from access to health and educational services and basic infrastructure.
