Israel demolishes properties of Palestinian who saved 30 Israelis on 7 October
Nadav Rapaport reports in Middle East Eye on 7 October 2026:
Israeli authorities have demolished properties belonging to a Palestinian citizen of Israel, who rescued 30 Israelis from the Nova music festival during the 7 October 2023 attacks. The Israeli news site Local Call reported on Monday that Israeli authorities razed a warehouse and chicken coop belonging to Yousef Zyadna, while his nephew’s home was demolished.
Zyadna, a minibus driver, drove to the site of the Nova music festival in the early hours of the attacks to help people escape. He was subsequently awarded for his heroism at an event at Israel’s Friends of Zion museum.
Local Call reported that dozens of bulldozers arrived in the Zyadna neighbourhood near the southern city of Rahat, where they demolished homes and other structures in the Bedouin community.
It added that 65 demolition orders are currently in place against homes in the neighbourhood. Zyadna told Local Call that he did not regret helping the Israelis despite the demolition of properties belonging to his family, adding “these are our values. This is how we were raised.”
Four members of the Zyadna family were also taken captive during the October 2023 attacks. Bilal and Aisha were released in November 2023, while Hamza and Yousef died in captivity. Their bodies were returned to Israel in January 2025.
Zyadna said that he has documents dating back to the Ottoman period that he believes prove his family lived in the area before the establishment of Israel. “I will not leave my land,” he told Local Call. He also said that he has received mental health treatment since 7 October but that the state has not provided financial support for his treatment.
‘Moral and ethical disgrace’
Naama Lazimi, a Knesset member from the opposition Democrats party, described Zyadna as “an Israeli hero and a symbol of coexistence”. She called Monday’s demolition “a moral and ethical disgrace”. “The shared fate of 7 October cannot remain only in ceremonies and speeches,” Lazimi said. “It must also be expressed in policy, in recognition of heroism, and in the state’s responsibility toward all of its citizens.”