Israel carries out largest demolition of Palestinian homes in years
Israeli bulldozers, backed by Israeli police, demolish Palestinian homes near the Umm Butin village in the Negev region on 8 May 2024
Heba Nasser and Lubna Masarwa report in Middle East Eye on 8 May 2024:
Israeli bulldozers, under the protection of police forces, on Wednesday destroyed 47 Bedouin homes in the southern Negev region, in the largest day of demolitions in years.
The demolitions, near Umm Butin village, targeted the houses of members of the same family, Abu Asa, leaving hundreds of them without a home.
Israeli authorities carried out the demolition under the pretext that the structures did not have the proper building permits, which are very rarely granted to Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev desert, known as the Naqab in Arabic.
Several Abu Asa family members decided to burn down their own homes prior to the operation rather than watch the Israelis destroy them. One Palestinian, Ahmed Abu Asa, was arrested after he tried to obstruct the bulldozers.
Kayed Abu Latif, a farmer and agricultural studies researcher, said the demolition order was “surprising”, especially given that Palestinian citizens in the area had helped Israelis during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October.
“The Arab community, especially in the Negev, made great sacrifices, especially the Abu Asa family, at the beginning of the war on 7 October. They contributed in saving the lives of many Israelis in the Gaza Envelope and the Sderot areas,” Abu Latif told Middle East Eye.
“The Israeli government is blatantly ignoring the sacrifices made by the Palestinian community in the Negev during the war.”
Abu Latif said Wednesday’s operation was the largest home demolition carried out in a single day in the Negev in years.
Before destroying the houses, Israeli authorities also confiscated furniture, taking it away in trucks, Abu Latif said.
In one video posted by local media, a Palestinian woman can be seen talking to police after they confiscated personal belongings, including momentos and photo albums, that she had taken out of her home.
‘An organised crime’
The area where the demolitions were taking place was closed off by police in the early hours of Wednesday. A Palestinian member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, was prevented from approaching the site.
The High Follow-Up Committee for Arabs in the Negev, a political body representing the needs of Palestinian citizens of Israel, said in a statement that the demolitions had left women, children and the elderly out in the open under the scorching sun, without shelter or anywhere to go.