Israeli forces Thursday demolished the unrecognized Palestinian al-Araqib Bedouin village in Negev for the 108th time.
Israeli forces last demolished the village less than a month ago on December 22 2016.
Local activist Aziz al-Touri said Israeli police troops and special units rolled into the village and cordoned it off from all sides before they knocked it down.
The police forces also seized properties water tanks and three Palestinian vehicles.
Israeli forces began targeting the village with demolitions in 2010 along with filing multiple lawsuits against the residents and imposing steep fines on them.
The first demolition of al-Araqib took place more than six years ago on June 27 2010.
Al-Araqib is one of 35 Bedouin villages considered “unrecognized” by Israel.
Bedouins of the Negev have faced relentless efforts by the Israeli authorities to expel them from their lands in order to make room for Israeli settlement outposts.
The classification of the village as “unrecognized” prevents Bedouins from developing or expanding their communities.
The 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.
Rights groups have frequently warned that the demolition of al-Araqib and other Bedouin villages is a central Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing aiming to force the indigenous Palestinian population out of their homes and uprooting them from their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyles which largely hinge on access to a wide range of grazing land.
