On Monday, Dec. 26, 2022, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) demolished the unrecognised Palestinian Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Naqab desert in southern Occupied Palestine for the 211th time since 2010.
Israeli bulldozers demolished the tents and tin structures in al-Araqib village after the Israeli police surrounded it, attacking the Bedouins and forcing them to leave their houses.
The residents have tried to rebuild their small houses out of wood and plastic, in an attempt to confront the Israeli plans to displace the Palestinians in the village.
The demolition was the 15th since the beginning of the year. It was demolished 14 times in 2021.
Al-Araqib village shelters 22 families comprising 800 Palestinian civilians, who live on livestock farming and desert agriculture.
Bedouin inhabitants of the village have proof of their ownership of 1,250 dunums of land dating back to the 1970s, but the Israeli authorities refuse to accept them and are working to evict them from their land.
The village was first destroyed in 2010 and rebuilt after every demolition since then.
Araqib village was first established during the Ottoman era, on land purchased by its residents.
Israeli authorities seek to seize control of the lands and expel its residents, with dozens of other villages and Bedouin communities facing the same threat in the Negev area.
