IOF demolish eight homes, number of tents in Negev region

Wednesday, 9 December 2009

IOF demolish eight homes, number of tents in Negev region

[ 08/12/2009 - 06:27 PM ]

NEGEV, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday demolished eight Palestinian homes as well as tents and uprooted dozens of olive saplings in different areas of the occupied Negev region.

Different Palestinian local sources reported that Israeli bulldozers knocked down seven homes and uprooted dozens of olive saplings in Al-Araqeeb village and demolished another home in Umm Mitnan village.

They also said that the Israeli troops tore down tents of Palestinian citizens in the village of Taweel Abu Jarwal for the 37th time and delivered 13 demolition orders against homes in an area near the village of Umm Numeila.

“We rebuild as soon as the troops who demolish leave the area. We will not leave our land for it is our life or be deterred by demolitions in all circumstances, though we were left in the rain and cold,” Mohamed Talalqah, one of Taweel Abu Jarwal residents, said.

For his part, Ibrahim Al-Waqili, the head of the regional council for unrecognized villages in the Negev, affirmed that the demolition of Palestinian homes in the region are carried out by the Israeli government to satisfy the demands of settlers and right-wing voices.

“We deplore and condemn the ongoing demolition of Arab homes in the Negev, and warn the [Israeli] government and hold it responsible for what might happen in the Negeve because pressure generates explosion and this seems to be inevitable,” Waqili emphasized.

In another related context, the Israeli prosecutor confessed Monday that the successive Israeli governments have demolished more than 450 Palestinian homes at the pretext of unlicensed construction in area C in the West Bank over the past 12 years.

This declaration came in response to a complaint filed by the Zionist Rajavim organization with the Israeli high court in occupied Jerusalem in which it alleged that the Israeli government demolishes settlement units and refrains from taking similar steps against Palestinian homes.