From the Liveblog of
Thursday, June 25, 2026
Some 1,000 Bedouins protest surge in home demolitions under Ben Gvir
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Around a thousand Bedouin Israelis protested in Beersheba this morning against the sharp uptick in home demolitions under National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, after two large-scale demolitions were carried out in unrecognized villages this month.
The protest organized by the High Follow-Up Committee, an organization representing Israel’s Arab citizens, saw hundreds of Bedouin residents gather on the city’s main street to protest what organizers dub the government’s “policy of demolition and displacement” against the minority.
It was held after authorities razed a section of Tel Arad, an unrecognized village east of Beersheba, inhabited by 40 families, as part of a government plan to build five new townships in the area. Earlier this month in the unrecognized village of Qasr a-Sir, authorities demolished another 20 homes, according to Arabic reports.
Talal al-Qrenawi, the mayor of Rahat, spoke before the crowds of protesters and urged them to vote in the coming elections.
“Ben Gvir threatened that another 20,000 homes will be destroyed next year. Our response is clear: The power is in the hands of the public and the voters,” he said. “In the coming period, an important decision stands before us, whether or not we will succeed in bringing this government’s path to an end.”
High Follow-Up Committee head Jamal Zahalka, who traveled south to attend the protest, said that Arab leaders “are not seeking conflict” with Israeli land authorities, and instead hope to negotiate with the government toward a plan for the residents of unrecognized villages.
“We are suggesting a solution based on serious and good faith negotiation between the representatives of Arab society in the Negev and the state,” he said. “Instead of choosing this path, the state is picking demolitions, expropriations and unilateral steps time and time again.”
There are around 100,000 Bedouin citizens living in unrecognized villages throughout the Negev. Such communities have no municipal status and do not belong to any nearby township, meaning residents lack basic infrastructure. Without a formal building plan, homes built in unrecognized communities are constructed illegally and thus are liable for demolition.
متظاهرون يغلقون الشارع الرئيسي في بئر السبع احتجاجا على هدم المنازل والاقتلاع والتهجير في النقب
للتفاصيل: https://t.co/ZO4pevwdrb pic.twitter.com/C3clmCRzNC— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) June 25, 2026
While the government has sought to relocate residents of these communities en masse to planned Bedouin towns, Arab leadership has argued that such moves are not realistic given the population’s quick growth, and instead believes the government should recognize and invest in the communities as they currently stand.
The Times of Israel Community.