An Israeli freed from Gaza returns to a village where 70% of homes are targeted for demolition

KHIRBET KARKUR, Israel (AP) — An Israeli hostage rescued from Gaza returned to a hero’s welcome tinged with a bitter reality: Much of the small village he calls home, Khirbet Karkur, is targeted for demolition. Qaid Farhad Alkadi, 52, is one of Israel’s roughly 300,000 Bedouin Arabs, a poor and traditionally nomadic minority that has a complicated relationship with the government and often faces discrimination. While they are Israeli citizens and some serve in the army, about a third of Bedouins, including Alkadi, live in villages the government considers illegal and wants to tear down. Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, meets his relatives and friends after arriving in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Since November, about 70% of Khirbet Karkur residents have been told the government plans to raze their homes because they were built without permits in a “protected forest” not zoned for housing, according to a lawyer representing them. “It’s so exciting, we didn’t know if he’ll come back alive or not,” said Muhammad Abu Tailakh, the head of Khirbet Karkur’s local council and a public health lecturer at Ben Gurion University in nearby Beersheba. “But the good news is also a bit complicated, because of everything that’s going on.” Alkadi was greeted by dozens of well-wishers Wednesday — and a crush of media. “It does not matter if they are Arab or Jewish, all have a family waiting for them,” said Alkadi, a father of 11 who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 while working as a security guard at a packing plant near the Gaza border. “I hope, I pray an end to this.” Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, center, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, meets his relatives and friends after arriving in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Alkadi was one of eight Bedouins abducted on Oct. 7, and three are believed to still be alive in captivity; two teenagers were released, one was accidentally killed by the Israeli army, and one declared dead is still in Gaza. For water, they bring a pipe from some community, and it arrives here, but it is still difficult to live in a village without water and electricity the way it should be.” Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, 3rd left, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, meets his relatives and friends after arriving in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, drinks a coffee after arriving in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) Unrecognized villages are not connected to state water, sewage, or electricity infrastructure, and the roads to many, including Khirbet Karkur, are dusty and potholed. Israel’s Supreme Court has previously deemed many of the unrecognized Bedouin villages illegal, and the government has said they are trying to bring order to a lawless area and give a better quality of life to the impoverished minority. Relatives and friends of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, wait for his arrival on an area in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. Relatives and friends of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, wait for his arrival on an area in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) The government wants to move them north to Rahat, an urban Bedouin settlement of about 70,000, according to Netta Amar Shiff, a lawyer representing families who received demolition notices. Regavim, a right-wing group that studies land issues in Israel and supports the government’s relocation plan for Bedouins, said the Bedouin are being offered an excellent deal with free land, and it is in their interest to move in order to receive services that every Israeli citizen is entitled to receive. Relatives and friends of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, wait for his arrival on an area in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) The unrecognized villages do not have adequate bomb shelters or a warning system in the case of incoming rockets, and at least 11 Bedouin have been killed by rockets fired into Israel since the war began. “The entire country is in a war, and I also have to fight this demolition order,” said Abu Tailkha, the head of Khirbet Karkur’s local council. Houses of Bedouin families stand on area in the Negev desert next to a place where relatives and friends of Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, who was held hostage by Hamas militants in Gaza Strip, wait for his arrival in the Khirbet Karkur village, near Rahat, southern Israel, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean) “I think in a bit they will forget about Farhan, and they will send another round of demolition orders,” he said. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/7f67ea47c7fb96a966dd8e45a2556a15