Israeli Authorities Demolish Al-Araqib for the 244th Time and Arrest Sheikh Sayah Al-Turi

SadaNews - Israeli occupation machinery demolished the homes and tents of the residents of Al-Araqib in the Negev, southern Israel, this morning, Wednesday, for the 244th time, leaving them homeless amid winter and severe cold, under the protection of police and their units, as part of a continuous policy aimed at uprooting and displacing the unrecognized village.

Aziz Sayah Al-Turi, a social activist from the village, said that "the demolition authorities, backed by police forces, stormed the village this morning, demolished the homes and tents, and arrested the father of Sheikh Sayah Al-Turi."

This marks the tenth time that the Israeli authorities have demolished the tents and modest homes sheltering the residents of Al-Araqib since the beginning of this year, 2025, until today, after demolishing them 11 times in 2024, 11 times in 2023, 15 times in 2022, and 14 times in 2021, in their repeated attempts to push the villagers towards frustration and despair and displace them from their lands.

The first time the Israeli authorities demolished Al-Araqib was on July 27, 2010, and the last demolition was on July 28, 2025.

Determination to Remain and Hold onto the Land

The residents of Al-Araqib village insist on staying and holding onto their land, repeatedly setting up their tents from wood and nylon covers to protect them from the intense heat in summer and the bitter cold in winter, as a response to the plans of uprooting and displacement from their land.

Residents complain that the "Yoav" police unit, belonging to the so-called "Negev Development Authority," responsible for carrying out demolition operations in Arab towns in the Negev, along with the so-called "Israel Land Authority," continue to storm Al-Araqib and provocatively scout its conditions, then demolish the modest homes, displacing children, women, and the elderly.

Residents confirm that the practices of the Israeli authorities and their ongoing demolition of their homes "will not deter us from remaining and steadfast on the land of our ancestors."

The residents of Al-Araqib call on the Arab public and all free people in the country to "act in support of Al-Araqib and stand by its people against the plans of uprooting and displacement."

Pursuits and Harassment

The Israeli authorities, through all their branches, pursue the residents of Al-Araqib by various means and methods, including the imprisonment of Sheikh Sayah Al-Turi and several of his sons and grandchildren, in addition to activist Salim Al-Turi and others, under the pretext of construction without a permit and the claim of "seizing state lands."

They have also imposed hefty fines on the residents and continue policies of harassment, prosecution, and arrests against them.

On the other hand, the Israeli authorities refuse to recognize their right to land ownership and continue to pressure them to push them towards forced emigration through the demolition of their homes, uprooting their crops, and preventing them from accessing pastures and raising livestock.

Stability and Resilience

In Al-Araqib village, there remain 22 families, totaling about 86 individuals, who rely on livestock and desert agriculture for their livelihood. The residents managed in the 1970s, according to the laws and conditions of the Israeli authorities, to prove their right to ownership of 1,250 dunams out of thousands of their lands.

Additionally, alongside Al-Araqib, the unrecognized Arab villages in the Negev face daily plans of uprooting and displacement. Palestinians in the Negev understand that the aim of the harassment and pursuit, under the guise of the Israeli judiciary and under the pretext of "unauthorized construction," is to eliminate their claims of ownership of their lands and impose control over the Arab presence in the Negev.

Three Hundred Thousand Palestinians in the Negev Suffer from Discrimination and Racism

Approximately 300,000 Arab Palestinians live in the Negev region, suffering from blatant discrimination in their basic rights in areas such as housing, education, wages, employment, and more.

The unrecognized Arab villages in the Negev are experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe in every sense of the word, as these towns are deprived of the simplest necessities of life, due to the policies of oppression, injustice, and neglect exercised by successive Israeli governments against the residents, solely because they are Arabs who insisted on holding onto their land and rejected plans for uprooting and displacement.

Today, the Arab community in the Negev constitutes more than a third of the region's population, while the Jewish community is witnessing significant growth due to the implementation of plans to Judaize the Negev.

According to estimates from the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, 28% of Arabs in the Negev live in villages not officially recognized to this day. Nevertheless, among the 144 towns in the Negev (not counting the individual farms, which are predominantly Jewish), there are only 18 Arab villages, accounting for just 15% of the total settlements.

The near-total segregation in housing between the Arab and Jewish communities, along with the clear discrimination in housing conditions and services, reflects the extent of the gaps between the Arab villages, in all their forms, and the Jewish settlements in the Negev.

Escalation in the Demolition of Arab Homes

The Israeli authorities continue to carry out demolitions of homes, commercial establishments, and industrial workshops in various Arab towns, under the pretext of unauthorized construction, as recently occurred in Rahat, Tubas, Jdeideh Makr, Yarka, Zarzir, Akka, Nazareth, Umm al-Fahm, Shfaram, Sakhnin, Ein Mahil, Jaffa, Kafr Qassem, Qalansuwa, Kafr Yasif, Arara, Lod, Harfesh, Kafr Qari, and several other Arab villages in the Negev, amidst public outrage as this policy is viewed as part of a systematic plan to tighten the grip on Arab citizens.

Source: Arab 48