Following media attention over demolition of injured Bedouin girl’s home, Israeli authorities scrap order

Mohamad Hassouna, who resides in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Fura, sits in a building near where his 7-year-old daughter Amina was injured by an Iranian missile shard in the southern Negev desert on April 14, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)
Mohamad Hassouna, who resides in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Fura, sits in a building near where his 7-year-old daughter Amina was injured by an Iranian missile shard in the southern Negev desert on April 14, 2024. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

Israeli authorities have scrapped a demolition order that was issued earlier today for the family home of 7-year-old Amina Hassouna, who is still hospitalized in serious condition after shrapnel from an intercepted ballistic missile in last month’s attack from Iran landed in the Bedouin town of Al-Fura in the southern Negev, Channel 12 reports.

The reversal comes less than an hour after Channel 12 revealed that the order had been issued, sparking some uproar on social media.

Like many unrecognized Bedouin villages in the area, al-Furah lacks bomb shelters that could have kept the girl safe.

Such villages are regularly served with demolition orders as they were built without permits. However, many have existed on the same plots of land for generations, sometimes after being evicted by Israeli authorities from other areas. Securing building permits for Bedouin communities is nearly impossible and their leadership regularly accuses the state of discriminatory practices and neglect.

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