Palestinian Bedouin, who are traditionally nomadic, were largely displaced from their ancestral lands in the Negev/Naqab desert in 1948.  Out of the more than 90,000 living in the Naqab in 1947 only about 11,000 remained after the State of Israel was founded.  

Today, about 200,000 Bedouin live within Israel’s current borders, including as many as 120,000 living in 35 “unrecognized villages” in the Naqab which Israel has been determined to “Judaize.” Although Bedouin hold Israeli citizenship and most of their herding communities were established before the founding of the Israeli state, Israel refuses to recognize them and provide them with piped water, electricity, and other services.  Residents of these villages  are in constant threat of eviction or forced displacement by authorities to make way for Jewish settlements.  

Israel has repeatedly raided these communities, demolished their homes and evicted inhabitants in the attempt to force them to move into urban townships. But many Bedouin are determined to maintain their traditional way of life and stay on their land, and repeatedly rebuild their homes after they are destroyed.  

On February 24, 2025, the village of Al-Araqib in the Naqab was destroyed for the 236th time since 2010.