Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Sunday, January 22, 2023

KKL-JNF to move ahead with flashpoint tree planting in Negev

22 January 2023, 8:04 pm 1 Edit

KKL workers plant trees in the sandy soil of Kibbutz Mefalsim, located in the north-west Negev desert near to the Gaza border, in August, 2022. The trees are planted to hide the kibbutz from the view of rocket launchers in the Gaza Strip close by. (KKL)

File: KKL workers plant trees in the sandy soil of Kibbutz Mefalsim, located in the north-west Negev desert near to the Gaza border.(KKL)

The Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemet LeYisrael says it will move ahead with plans to plant trees near Nahal Yatir in the Negev, in what has in the past sparked violence.

JNF-KKL announces that it will carry out tree planting and other agricultural work in the area “without any delays,” though it did not provide a specific date for such activity, which often occurs around the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shvat, which begins this year on February 5.

Last year, rioting among Bedouin residents of the Negev broke out, with some setting fire to tires, blocking roads and hurling stones at civilian cars. Bedouins say the agricultural work encroaches on their unrecognized lands and that KKL-JNF is seeking to displace them.