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Illustrative: A Bedouin woman sits in front of the ruins of her family house in the Bedouin village of al-Arakib in the Negev on August 4, 2010. (AFP/David Buimovitch, File) Published by Maan
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NEGEV (Ma’an) -- Israeli authorities on Tuesday leveled farmland in the Negev Bedouin village of Wadi al-Niam, a member of the Higher Guidance Committee of Arab Residents of the Negev said.

Sayid al-Khroumi said Israeli forces brought tractors to the area to "ravage crops and destroy farmland," which he called an "act of cowardice" to "punish simple citizens."

After Israeli forces left the area, al-Khroumi said residents of the village remained resilient, telling Ma'an that “our people in Wadi al-Niam are more determined to stay firm in their land in spite of their oppressors.”

On Monday, Israeli forces arrived at the Bedouin community of Um al-Hiran, also in the Negev, to level farmlands, but Palestinians managed to protest the demolition, reportedly leading Israeli forces to retreat.

Following the incident in Um al-Hiran, Bedouin member of the Israeli Knesset Talab Abu Arar accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing."
Abu Arar added that Israeli authorities destroyed crops in the villages of Attir, Hurah and Saawah during the past several days.

Residents of Wadi al-Niam and nearby villages are among tens of thousands of Bedouins living in the Negev face ongoing displacement.

While a plan to forcibly resettle the area's Bedouin population -- the Prawer Plan -- was shelved in 2014, Israel’s Habayit Hayehudi party joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau’s coalition last year on the condition the plan was reinstated.