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Comments (0)Some 45 illegal structures reportedly were demolished in an unrecognized Bedouin village in southern Israel.
About 1,300 police officers oversaw the demolition Tuesday by the Israel Land Administration in al-Arakib, near Rahat.
Ownership of the land is the subject of proceedings in the Beersheva District Court.
Activists and volunteers arrived from across Israel to join in nonviolent resistance, according to a coalition of organizations supporting the village.
The al-Arakib village existed for many years before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Residents who were evicted by Israel in 1951 returned to the land; their families are now living and farming there.
In a statement, the coalition claimed that the Jewish National Fund wants to plant a forest on the site. It called the village’s demolition a “criminal act.”
“Bedouin citizens of Israel are not enemies, and forestation of the Negev is not a reasonable pretext for destroying a community which is more than 60 years old, dispossessing its residents, and violating the basic rights of hundreds of Israeli civilians, men, women and children,” the statement said.
Shlomo Tziser, an official with the Land Administration’s Southern District, said that “the people who live here have homes in Rahat and Kfar Kassem,” Ynet reported. “We are implementing a verdict for the evacuation of the area which has passed all legal instances. Today we shall evacuate them, and should they return we’ll do it again.”
Netanya Man Allegedly Murders His Children
A Netanya man was arrested for murdering his three young children.
Itai Ben Dror was found Saturday morning in his apartment with the children; he reportedly attempted to commit suicide after allegedly committing the murders. The children—ages 10, 8 and 5—were stabbed in their sleep.
Ramle District Court justices ordered Ben Dror to be held for 10 days and undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Ben Dror, who is divorced from the children’s mother and had them at his apartment as part of the custody agreement, said in court Sunday that he killed the children “to give them peace and quiet from their mother.”
“Now they are in heaven waiting for me there,” he also said.
Welfare authorities recently had granted Ben Dror unsupervised visits with the children on the recommendation of a psychiatrist, according to reports.
Ben Dror reportedly told police that the murders, which occurred on his ex-wife’s birthday, were premeditated.
His ex-wife, Lilach, said Sunday that Ben Dror was not mentally ill, as some news outlets had begun to speculate. In a radio interview she called him “manipulative.”
Netanyahu, Abdullah Discuss Peace in Region
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman in an unannounced meeting.
Tuesday’s two-hour meeting in the Jordanian capital focused on the need to advance peace, security and prosperity in the region, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The two leaders discussed the need to ensure direct, serious and effective negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that would address all final-status issues and create a solution of two states for two peoples in which Israelis and Palestinians will live in lasting and secure peace,” said a statement put out by the office.
“The Prime Minister said that King Abdullah’s leadership was important for advancing peace and stability in the region, and that he looked forward to strengthening the relations between Israel and Jordan,” according to the statement.
Abdullah also met Tuesday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.