300 left homeless as Israel police raze village

Around 300 Bedouins living in Israel's Negev desert were left homeless today after hundreds of police raided their village and demolished their homes, police and rights groups said.

Israeli rights activists who tried to prevent the operation said a huge number of police had arrived at the unrecognised village of Al-Araqib shortly before dawn in scores of vehicles and at least 12 coaches.

"More than 1,500 police arrived at the village at around sunrise -- They came in dozens of vehicles and began destroying the structures there," said Chaya Noach, head of Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality, a group fighting to protect the rights of the Bedouin in the Negev.

She said at least five bulldozers set to work tearing down all the homes in the village -- between 30 and 40 makeshift units built out of clay and straw that were home to some 300 people.

"It took them about three or four hours to destroy all the houses," she told AFP, describing the scene as "appalling."

They also uprooted hundreds of olive trees belonging to the villagers, she said.

Minor scuffles erupted as the villagers and around 150 rights activists tried to stop the police from carrying out the demolitions, with several people wounded and a handful arrested, activists said.

Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed the early-morning operation, saying the homes had been "illegally built" and were destroyed in line with a court ruling issued 11 years ago which was never implemented.

"Around 30 shacks were removed and several hundred people were taken back to the Rahat area where they originally came from," he told AFP, referring to a nearby Bedouin town in Israel's arid south.

He said three people had been detained for questioning but were later released without charge.

Around 160,000 Bedouin live in Israel, most dwelling in and around the Negev desert. Around half live in unrecognised villages without municipal services like water and electricity, and much of the rest also live in extreme poverty.