Israel delays eviction of Umm Al-Hiran village

The Israeli authorities today delayed the final evacuation date of the Bedouin village of Umm Al-Hiran in the south of the country for three months, in order to reach a solution with its residents, the official Palestinian news agency reported. The final houses in the village were due to be evacuated and demolished in the end of March but this was postponed.

On 18 January, the Israeli authorities demolished 15 houses of Arab citizens in the town of Umm Al-Hiran on the grounds that the properties were built without the impossible to obtain building permits.

Read more: Bedouin decry Israeli ‘crime’ after village demolition

During confrontations between Arab citizens and the Israeli police, following the demolition of houses, Arab citizen Yaqoub Abu Al-Qiyan and an Israeli policeman, Erez Levy, were killed.

Abu Al-Qiyan was shot by Israeli police while he was driving, forcing him to lose control of his car. To date, Israeli police have not announced the results of their investigation into the events surrounding his death.

The Bedouin village in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, where the state has ordered several homes destroyed to make way for Jewish-only housing projects.