As part of its policy to ‘Judaize’ Palestine, Israeli forces have demolished the village of al-Araqib in the southern Negev region – for the 190th time.
The Local Committee for the Defense of al-Araqib (LCDA) has announced that the Israeli authorities “today demolished the village of al-Araqib for the 190th time”, and that the villagers will again rebuild it.
The houses of al-Araqib are constructed with wood, plastic, and tin. Twenty-two Palestinian families live there.
The Israeli authorities demolished the village for the first time in July 2010. Since then, every time the residents rebuild their village, the occupying forces demolish it.
The occupying government refuses to recognise the village – though its residents insist on staying on their land despite the repeated demolitions.
The village of al-Araqib was established during the Ottoman period, on land purchased by descendants of the current residents.
The occupation authorities continue to attempt to expel the residents of the village and control their lands, as they have done with dozens of other villages in the Negev region, all whilst refusing to recognize or provide any services to them.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) has repeatedly condemned Israel’s demolitions and called on the European Union (EU) and the wider international community to act urgently to stop the repeated Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
AOHR UK has stressed that the international response to the Israeli occupation’s crimes has been “weak”, and that this is the main reason for their continuation.
