Unauthorized home of relative of slain hostages said bulldozed in Negev

Israeli bulldozers have been used to destroy a building reportedly belonging to members of the extended Ziyadne family — four of whom were kidnapped on October 7.

According to reports, state authorities have destroyed the home in an unrecognized Bedouin village in the Negev of Khaled Ziyadne, whose brother Yousef was taken hostage and murdered in captivity.

Israel Hayom cites a statement from the Israel Lands Authority saying that only the kitchen and a storage area were destroyed, as part of the implementation of a court decision from 2023 to evacuate an unauthorized home.

Yousef Ziyadne was kidnapped while working at Kibbutz Holit on October 7, along with his children Hamza, Bilal, and Aisha. Bilal and Aisha were freed in November 2023, and Youssef and Hamza were slain in captivity and their bodies retrieved by the IDF in January 2025.

Soliman Ziyadne, a member of the extended family, writes on Facebook that the family has “gone through bereavement, loss and kidnapping… and now they’re destroying their home. Because in this country, even if you’re a hostage, a victim, a fighter or an exemplary citizen, if you’re an Arab you have no privileges.”

Bedouins who live in unrecognized villages in the Negev regularly face evictions and demolitions, as Israel has been trying for decades to move them to recognized towns and cities connected to the grid.

Last year, the Israel Land Authority said it would not serve a demolition notice to rescued hostage Farhan al-Qadi, though the state has earmarked much of his village to be razed.