Israeli bulldozers on Thursday knocked down a Palestinian home in Zarnouq village in Negev leaving a four-member family without a roof over their heads.
Palestinian citizen Mohamed Abu Kweidar said Israeli police troops and special forces escorted by a bulldozer rolled into the village at the crack of dawn and demolished the home of his brother Akef aged 30 under the guise of unlicensed construction.
Over the past five years the occupation authorities have repeatedly turned down Akef’s appeals for a construction permit to build a home for his family.
Akef’s expectant wife and his two children used to take shelter in the demolished home.
Zarnouq village is one of 45 villages unrecognized by the Israeli authorities in the Negev desert and constantly targeted with demolition and displacement in favor of settlement expansion projects.
About 240000 Palestinians live in the Negev Desert in villages and communities established hundreds of years ago.
Israel does not recognize these communities refuses to provide them with basic services such as water and electricity and cracks down on them in every possible way to push them to leave their lands.
