Israeli cities and towns within range of Palestinian militants’ rockets fired from Gaza have air raid shelters, but Bedouins in the Negev desert outside Beer Sheba, southern Israel, say they are being treated unfairly and have nowhere to hide.
In the past week the incoming rocket danger zone in Israel has been extended to include areas in which Bedouins live, but the latter say there is no warning system in the area. They also say they have not been contacted by the Home Front Command about how to protect themselves.
The estimated 180,000 Bedouins in the Negev are Israeli citizens and many serve in the army.
Several Grad missiles (larger and more deadly than Kassams) have exploded in Beer Sheba in the past week. But while children in Beer Sheba are kept indoors and schools are shut, Bedouin children are left unprotected, say the Bedouins.
The Israeli government tightly controls building permits and has a policy of demolishing unauthorised houses belonging to Israeli Arabs in the Negev desert. As a result, many Bedouins live in shacks with no protection from incoming rockets.
Residing in what is known as “unrecognised villages”, but also in recognised towns including Rahat and Tel Sheba, many Bedouins are in danger of being hit.
According to estimates by the Regional Council for Unrecognised Villages in the Negev, about 120,000 Bedouins in the Negev are now within range of the rockets from Gaza.
An Israeli Home Front Command spokesperson told reporters on 4 January they were trying to send army soldiers (Bedouins) into Bedouin villages to give instructions on what to do in an emergency. Thus far it has not been possible to get an official Israeli response regarding shelters and sirens for the Bedouins.
Suleiman Abu Abeyd, a father of eight and resident of Lakiya, a Bedouin municipality in the Negev with a population of 10,000, and 15km from Beer Sheba, told IRIN: “We do not hear sirens before the mortars land so even if we had shelters, we would not know when to hide. The children are terrified; mine have resorted to sleeping in one room with us. We try to explain that they [the rockets] might not land here and calm them down. The people here feel let down. It has been years of neglect, but now we are left totally unprotected, while Israeli children in nearby towns… are protected.”
Suleiman said no one from the Home Front Command had contacted municipality representatives to instruct them on the current situation.
Wassim Abbas of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), an Israeli NGO dealing with the health and welfare of minorities, told IRIN: “The state must protect residents of unrecognised Negev villages as much as it protects Jewish settlements nearby, particularly given the unstable buildings in which many of them live. A mortar landing in this situation is a death sentence. They [the Bedouins] are Israeli citizens and deserve the same protection as everyone else.”
The NGO sent a letter to the defence minister on 1 January asking for immediate action but has so far received no response.
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In the past week the incoming rocket danger zone in Israel has been extended to include areas in which Bedouins live, but the latter say there is no warning system in the area. They also say they have not been contacted by the Home Front Command about how to protect themselves.
The estimated 180,000 Bedouins in the Negev are Israeli citizens and many serve in the army.
Several Grad missiles (larger and more deadly than Kassams) have exploded in Beer Sheba in the past week. But while children in Beer Sheba are kept indoors and schools are shut, Bedouin children are left unprotected, say the Bedouins.
The Israeli government tightly controls building permits and has a policy of demolishing unauthorised houses belonging to Israeli Arabs in the Negev desert. As a result, many Bedouins live in shacks with no protection from incoming rockets.
Residing in what is known as “unrecognised villages”, but also in recognised towns including Rahat and Tel Sheba, many Bedouins are in danger of being hit.
According to estimates by the Regional Council for Unrecognised Villages in the Negev, about 120,000 Bedouins in the Negev are now within range of the rockets from Gaza.
An Israeli Home Front Command spokesperson told reporters on 4 January they were trying to send army soldiers (Bedouins) into Bedouin villages to give instructions on what to do in an emergency. Thus far it has not been possible to get an official Israeli response regarding shelters and sirens for the Bedouins.
Suleiman Abu Abeyd, a father of eight and resident of Lakiya, a Bedouin municipality in the Negev with a population of 10,000, and 15km from Beer Sheba, told IRIN: “We do not hear sirens before the mortars land so even if we had shelters, we would not know when to hide. The children are terrified; mine have resorted to sleeping in one room with us. We try to explain that they [the rockets] might not land here and calm them down. The people here feel let down. It has been years of neglect, but now we are left totally unprotected, while Israeli children in nearby towns… are protected.”
Suleiman said no one from the Home Front Command had contacted municipality representatives to instruct them on the current situation.
Wassim Abbas of Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), an Israeli NGO dealing with the health and welfare of minorities, told IRIN: “The state must protect residents of unrecognised Negev villages as much as it protects Jewish settlements nearby, particularly given the unstable buildings in which many of them live. A mortar landing in this situation is a death sentence. They [the Bedouins] are Israeli citizens and deserve the same protection as everyone else.”
The NGO sent a letter to the defence minister on 1 January asking for immediate action but has so far received no response.
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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