At least 10 people from the predominantly Bedouin city of Rahat and nearby unrecognized Bedouin settlements were killed this past Saturday in Hamas attacks on Israel.
Bedouin settlements in the Negev are severely lacking in security infrastructure. Rahat Mayor Ata Abu Madiam described a harrowing scene: “The city of Rahat is under attack and dozens of agricultural workers from Rahat were injured by direct fire while working in the fields surrounding Gaza. A woman from my family was killed. Dozens are missing; some of them were kidnapped by Hamas.”
Abu Madiam expressed his condolences regarding the death of Rahat Chief of Police Gyar Davidov, who was killed in battle.
The Regional Council for Unrecognized Villages reported that the following Bedouins were killed in the Hamas incursion:
- – Yazen Zakaria Abu Jamaa, 5 years old, Ar'arat an-Naqab – killed by a rocket near his home.
- – Fatma Altlaqat, 35 years old, Ar'arat an-Naqab – killed by gunfire near Ofakim
- – Malek Ebrahim Alkraan, 14 years old, Albat, and Javad Ebrahim Alkraan, 15 years old, Albat – killed by a direct hit by a rocket in a residential area
- – Amin Akel Alkraan, 11 years old, Albat, and Muhammad Div Alkraan, 12 years old, Albat – killed by a direct hit by a rocket
- – Faiza Abu Sabieh, 57 years old, Albat, and May Zuhair Abu Sabieh, 13 years old, Albat – killed by a direct hit by a rocket
- – Dalia Abu Madiam Merhat, in her 30s, killed when she was hit in the neck by a bullet or a rocket fragment while in the Gaza Strip for work
- – Sami Gerjaoui Mashgav Shalom
As of Saturday, Ar’ara Council Head Naif Abu Arar said that there had not been an adequate response to the heavy barrages that his town was facing. “So far I haven't even received a call from the Home Front Command,” he said. “There are no warnings. Nothing. We are alone."
Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages area coordinator Maigal Al Havashla, told of ten or so rockets falling in his village of El Arah. “One fell near the mosque and windows were broken,” he said. “Windows were also broken in a house near one of the falls. I've never seen such a barrage. It's hard to see the children crying like that and being scared."
Since the Bedouin village of El Arah is not officially recognized by Israel, the village lacks the civil defense sirens that Israel has installed in most urban areas.
“When I hear a siren in Be'er Sheva, I call my family. I know that in 40-80 seconds a missile will fall, but I don't know where,” Al Havashla said.
Even with adequate warning, most of the Bedouin residents have no safe place to hide from rockets. "We hide in the corners of the house. But our roofs are made of tin,” Al Havashla said. “Every hit is severe."
Former Knesset Member Taleb el-Sana, who currently serves as chair of the High Steering Committee for Arabs of the Negev, announced that schools would be open as shelter for residents of unrecognized villages. He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately provide portable bomb shelters for the residents of the unrecognized villages.
Residents of the Bedouin town of Bir HaDaj, which is recognized by the government, opened their homes to host the residents of the affected villages. Some residents of unrecognized villages also moved independently further south, farther away from the current fighting.
