BEER AL-SABE (Al Jazeera) – Dozens of Palestinian Bedouins have been wounded in a crackdown by Zionist troops on a peaceful protest against the occupying regime’s continuing forestation work on land residents privately own near the southern city of Beer al-Sabe.
Some 500 protesters took part in Thursday’s demonstration, which began at 3pm (13:00 GMT). They were met with hundreds of Zionist troops who fired rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, stun grenades, as well as skunk water.
At least 15 protesters were arrested, according to local media reports. The demonstration took place at the entrance to the Palestinian Bedouin village of Sa’wa at a main highway intersection on Route 31, east of Beer al-Sabe.
Huda Abu Obeid, a local activist, said the police attacked the protest shortly after it began.
“They used a lot of violence, beatings; there are people injured and others detained,” she told Al Jazeera.
The recent escalation began on Monday, when Zionist regime bulldozers arrived with heavy police protection in the nearby village of al-Atrash and razed Bedouin farming lands, in order to plant trees.
Bedouin Palestinians protested against the move and confrontations have continued for days. Videos and images shared on social media showed Zionist troops violently arresting and beating residents who arrived to defend the lands they use for farming wheat and barley.
Most Bedouin communities in the south are not recognized by the Zionist regime. They are deprived of basic services such as water and electricity.
The Negev desert is historically inhabited by Arab tribes, socially related to the tribes of Sinai, the Arabian Peninsula and Jordan. The Palestinian Authority says the Zionist regime is committing crimes against Palestinians in the Negev region.
Meanwhile, Zionist regime authorities have forced a Palestinian to demolish a commercial unit in the occupied Al-Quds, as Tel Aviv continues to press ahead with its illegal settlement expansion and land grab policies across the Palestinian territories despite international outcry.
The Palestinian media reported on Thursday that the regime authorities left Jamal Mohammad Ali with no choice but to totally knock down a commercial store belonging to him in Shuafat refugee camp.
The Palestinian resident had to begin demolishing the structure, which had an area of 150 square meters and was still under construction, with his own hands to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the regime’s municipality.
Also on Wednesday, Zionist troops tore down about a dozen Palestinian-owned buildings and structures in the occupied West Bank city Al-Khalil. They forced their way and carried out a large-scale demolition campaign east of Yatta town, south of Al-Khalil.