Israeli bulldozers on Thursday morning demolished al-Araqib village in the southern Negev area for the 131st time.
Local sources said the Israeli army forced the natives of the Araqib village out of their tents and shacks leaving them without roofs over their heads.
The Araqib village has been demolished 131 times since July 27 2010 under the pretext that its land makes part of Israeli “state property”.
Historical chronicles and documents prove that the village was built during the Ottoman era on lands purchased by the village’s residents at that time.
Araqib is one of 45 Arab villages in the Negev unrecognized by the Israeli government and constantly targeted with demolition and displacement in favor of settlement expansion projects.
About 240000 Palestinians live in the Negev Desert half of them 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.
