News / Palestine

Israeli military forces wreck Araqeeb village once again

Tuesday, 25 April 2017 12:52 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 25 April 2017 2:22 PM ]

This file photo shows Israeli forces and local residents following demolitions in the Bedouin village of Araqeeb in the Negev region of southern Israel.

Israeli military forces have wrecked the Bedouin village of Araqeeb in the Negev region of southern Israel once again as the Tel Aviv regime presses ahead with its land expropriation policies and settlement construction activities to uproot Palestinians.

Israeli bulldozers entered the community, located 8 kilometers (five miles) north of Beersheba, on Tuesday morning and leveled lands as well as makeshift structures built in the area.

Israeli bulldozers, escorted by groups of Israeli soldiers, have frequently raided Araqeeb and detained several Bedouins.

The first demolition of al-Araqeeb took place on June 27, 2010, and the village has been ruined 112 times ever since.

The last wrecking of al-Araqeeb occurred on April 5, when Israeli bulldozers tore down several houses.

Rights groups argue that the demolition of al-Araqeeb and other Bedouin villages is an attempt by the Israeli regime to uproot indigenous Palestinians from the Negev region and confiscate more land for the expansion of settlements.

Israel detains 15 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Meanwhile, at least 15 Palestinians, including three minors, have been seized by Israeli forces during overnight military raids in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian and Israeli sources said five of the abductions took place in Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Israeli soldiers attack Palestinian demonstrators amid clashes in the West Bank village of Beita, southeast of Nablus city, after a protest took place following Friday prayers in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, on April 21, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Two Palestinians were also nabbed in the town of Huwarra. Israeli forces seized the other Palestinians in the village of Haris, the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem, as well as the town of Beit Fajjar.

Israel is holding a total of 6,500 Palestinians, including women, children and lawmakers, in prisons and detention facilities across the occupied territories, three Palestinian non-governmental organizations say.

In a joint press released on April 15, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs (CDA), the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said 57 women and 300 children were among the detainees.

The statement noted that 500 inmates were being incarcerated under the practice of administrative detention, which is a policy under which Palestinian inmates are kept in Israeli detention facilities without trial or charge.

Some Palestinian prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.

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