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

Associated Press

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 is targeted for demolition. Qaid Farhad Alkadi is one of Israel’s 200,000 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. About 70% of the residents in Alkadi’s village of Khirbet Karkur have been notified by the government that it plans to raze their homes because they were built without permits.