The Israel Land Authority and Israeli police demolished three compounds in the Lakiya area of the Negev on Monday, including several buildings and livestock pens built illegally on state land. The eviction was carried out as part of enforcing court judgments against 52 defendants.
Members of the al-Asad family lived in the compounds. Legal proceedings against them began in 2021, and in 2022 courts issued judgments ordering the land evacuated. After all appeals to the District Court and Supreme Court were rejected, enforcement proceedings opened in 2025.
2+Families Offered Alternative Housing
The Israel Land Authority says it offered the families regulated housing solutions in Lakia’s Neighborhood 2 over the years, but they chose not to accept them. Following the court ruling and warnings from the authority, most of the structures in the compound were evacuated and demolished independently before the enforcement operation.
Inspectors from the Israel Land Authority’s Land Protection Division completed the demolition of the remaining buildings and livestock pens on site, accompanied by police officers who secured the operation. The authority explained that the operation’s purpose is to return the land to its designated use and enforce court decisions.
2+“We Will Continue to Act Against Encroachments”
Shira Tam, director of the Land Protection Division at the Israel Land Authority, said: “Implementing the court ruling and returning the land to state hands are a direct result of our commitment to protecting public lands in accordance with the law and court decisions. Even after lengthy legal proceedings and after alternative housing solutions were offered to them, division inspectors are acting and will continue to act with all the tools at our disposal against encroachments and illegal construction throughout the country.”
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