The Israeli occupation authorities have announced a new plan to displace 30,000 Palestinians living in the Negev desert, according to a report by the Palestinian news agency Safa.
The plan, dubbed “the Negev Development Project”, aims to confiscate 260,000 dunams of land from the Palestinian Bedouin communities and replace them with Jewish settlements and military bases.
The report said that the plan would affect 36 villages that are not recognized by the Israeli occupation and are deprived of basic services and infrastructure. The residents of these villages would be forced to relocate to urban areas that are already overcrowded and lack adequate facilities.
The report quoted Sheikh Sayyah al-Turi, a leader of the al-Araqib village, which has been demolished by the Israeli occupation more than 200 times, as saying that the plan is a continuation of the Nakba (catastrophe) that started in 1948.
He said that the Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev are determined to resist the plan and defend their land and identity. He called on the international community and human rights organizations to intervene and stop the Israeli violations of their rights.
The report also cited a statement by Adalah, a legal center for Arab minority rights, which said that the plan is illegal and discriminatory and violates international law and human rights conventions.
Adalah said that the plan would result in the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the destruction of their cultural heritage and way of life. It also said that the plan would exacerbate the environmental problems in the Negev, such as water scarcity and desertification.
Adalah urged the Israeli occupation authorities to cancel the plan and recognize the rights of the Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev to their land, property and natural resources.
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