Negev, MINA – Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Uri Ariel, has put forward a plan to displace about 36,000 Bedouin citizens from their villages in the Negev, Israel Hayom newspaper said on Monday.
According to PIC, the plan, if approved, is set to be implemented in 2019, and it is expected to be completed within four years.
The Israeli authorities are seeking to establish dozens of projects in the area, which requires the transfer of the population to another area, Israel Hayom said.
The Hebrew newspaper noted that the confiscated Bedouin lands are estimated at 260,000 dunums, the largest land grab operation since 1948.
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The displacement will start in 2019 and continue for four years with an annual increase in the budget. Over the ruins of the soon to be abandoned villages, Israel wants to expand the Trans-Israel Highway (Highway 6), an area of 12,000 dunums with 5,000 Arab families living there who Israel intends to transfer to Tel Sheva, Abu Talul and Um Batin.
The Israeli authorities are considering relocating a factory for military industries from the center of Israel to the Negev, a move that entails the transfer of 5,000 Arabs to to Abu Talul, Abu Qrinat and Wadi al-Naam, from Ramat Bekaa.
Israel is further planning to build a high voltage power line over 50,000 dunums of land, posing a threat to 15,000 people who are also included in the displacement plan.
These Bedouin villages do not appear on official Israeli maps, and are not provided basic services, such as water and electricity, by the Israeli authorities. They have no addresses and Israel does not recognize their rights.(R/R04/P2)
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