Al-Sar Village: 40 Homes Demolished for the Al-Omrani Family

SadaNews - Israeli occupation machinery and bulldozers, protected by police forces and their units, demolished 40 homes belonging to the Al-Omrani family in Al-Sar village, one of the unrecognized villages threatened with uprooting in the Negev area, southern Israel, this Wednesday morning.

Local sources reported that the occupation police fired sound and smoke bombs at the protesting residents, while fires broke out inside several homes after their owners set them ablaze in response to the arrival of the authorities' machinery and bulldozers to demolish them, leading to clashes and assaults on citizens.

The residents of Al-Sar village are facing a wide wave of home demolitions threatening to displace dozens of families, after approximately 50 families received immediate demolition orders for their homes.

This action follows the demolition of approximately 30 homes last week, which left a large number of residents homeless in harsh weather conditions.

The village has about 1,500 inhabitants who are administratively linked to the Shaqib al-Salam local council. Residents assert that the Israeli authorities do not provide any alternative solutions, but continue to demolish homes and uproot trees to prevent residents from returning to their lands.

The people of the village are living in extremely difficult conditions amidst the ongoing home demolitions by the Israeli government and the so-called "Bedouin Resettlement Authority," along with the police in the Negev, which is pursuing Arab residents who have lived in this area for over a hundred years, according to testimonies from the residents.

In recent months, the village has witnessed extensive demolition operations affecting more than 60 homes and agricultural establishments in three phases, and it is expected that more than 200 homes will be demolished in the coming weeks, following a decision issued by the Beersheba Magistrate Court for the evacuation of the village.

These operations are part of an escalating demolition campaign that has affected, since the beginning of the current Netanyahu government, more than 5,000 homes and establishments in the Negev region, with the rate of demolitions increasing by more than 400%. This campaign is implemented within Israeli plans aimed at confining as many Negev residents as possible into the least area within recognized towns and cities, and displacing inhabitants of the 38 unrecognized villages, home to about 90,000 people, in preparation for establishing Jewish settlement towns on their ruins.

The Israeli authorities continue to demolish homes, shops, and industrial workshops in Arab towns under the pretext of lack of permits, as experienced in Rahat, Tuba-Zangariyye, Jdeideh-Makr, Yarka, Al-Zarazir, Acre, Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm, Shfa-'Amr, Sakhnin, Ein Mahil, Jaffa, Kafr Qasim, Qalansuwa, Kafr Yasif, Ara'ara, Lod, Harfesh, Kafr Qara, and other Arab towns in the Negev area.

Source: Arabs 48