Al-Araqib (QNN)- Israeli occupation forces demolished Al-Araqib village in the Negev Desert earlier on Monday for the 196th time, despite the severe weather conditions. Reports said Israeli occupation forces raided the village, which is rebuilt by its residents after each time it has been demolished, and removed all the tents and destroyed the tin shelters placed on the land by the residents to provide a roof over their heads in the cold weather, leaving them homeless. Al-Araqib was demolished for the first time in 2000. Today’s demolition is the twelfth so far this year. ‘Israel’ does not “recognise” the village, but its residents point out that they own the land and have done, since the Ottoman period, decades before ‘Israel’ was created in occupied Palestine. Despite the repeated demolitions, every time the residents of Al-Araqib rebuild their tents and small homes. However, the occupation forces return to raze them, sometimes several times in a month. There are 22 Palestinian families living in the village. Al-Araqib village is one of 51 “unrecognised” Arab villages in the area, and is constantly targeted for demolition by Israeli bulldozers, for which Bedouins are then charged.