Israeli police accompanied the bulldozers as they stormed the village and tore down homes [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu/Getty]
Israeli authorities on Thursday demolished a mosque and homes in a Palestinian Bedouin village in the southern Negev (Naqab) desert to make way for a Jewish settlement.
Videos shared online showed Israeli police forces raiding the village before a bulldozer moved in to tear down the mosque in Umm al-Hiran.
“The militias of [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and his gangs demolished the Umm al-Hiran Mosque and the homes of residents, effectively displacing them,” United Arab List Knesset Member Yousef Al-Atawneh told Anadolu Agency.
He said the demolition was the true “racist, fascist face of the Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which views Arab citizens as enemies and invaders”.
Israeli authorities had given the Umm al-Hiran’s residents until 24 November to evacuate because the village was “not recognised” and “illegally built” – despite having lived there for decades.
Many residents had already left due to ongoing threats and harassment by the authorities.
Israeli media on Thursday said a Jewish settlement which will bear the name ‘Dror’ will replace the Bedouin locality and become the home of 2,400 Jewish families.
Ben Gvir – known for his extremist stances and inflammatory remarks against the Palestinians – posted a video and images of the demolition process on Telegram.
“This morning, a mosque and illegal buildings were destroyed in the village of Umm al-Hiran in the Negev, using government tractors,” he wrote.
“Since the beginning of the year, there has been a 400 percent increase in the issuance of demolition orders – proud to lead a strong policy to demolish illegal homes in the Negev,” he added.
In total, between 5,000-6,000 people in eight Bedouin villages in the Negev are at risk of forcible displacement, according to the Regional Council of Unrecognised Villages in the Negev.
Israel doesn’t recognise 35 Bedouin villages in the Negev because the state outlined the area for agricultural purposes only under Israel’s 1965 Planning and Construction Law – meaning housing construction is illegal there, despite plans to build settlements instead.
Without recognition, the villages aren’t zoned for planning and therefore can’t receive building permits and basic utilities like access to the electrical grid and road infrastructure.
This is despite its Palestinian Bedouin residents having Israeli citizenship, granted to them because they stayed on their land – instead of fleeing or being expelled – when the state of Israel was established during the Nakba of 1948.
