Israeli police arrest 41 Arabs in Negev amid protests

JERUSALEM

Israeli police arrested dozens of Palestinian Arabs in the Negev region in southern Israel, amid protests against land confiscation in the area, according to a local NGO on Tuesday.

“At least 41 people were detained in different areas in the Negev,” Juma Al-Zabarqa, coordinator of the Higher Orientation Committee for Arabs in the Negev, told Anadolu Agency.

He said Israeli police did not provide a reason for the arrests, adding that eight local Arabs had been detained on Monday.

There was no comment from Israeli authorities on the report.

Hundreds of local Arabs demonstrated in the Negev in recent days in protest of the confiscation of their lands by the Jewish National Fund, an organization that collects money from Jews around the world to seize Palestinian property.

Arab citizens in the Negev region are estimated at around 300,000, living on 5% of their land, 95% of which they say is confiscated by Israel since 1948.

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar