New Industrial Zone Planned for Bedouin Town After Compromise on Land Ownership Dispute Reached

Jerusalem, 22 July, 2025 (TPS-IL) — On Monday, a discussion was held in the Southern District Committee, where a significant plan for the development of a new industrial and commercial zone in Rahat – a Bedouin town in the Negev – was approved. Ownership of the land to be used for the zone, which was previously claimed by the Al-Huzayl family, was settled in a compromise agreement between the family and the State of Israel.

As part of the agreement, the family gave up hundreds of acres in the center and east of the city, and in return received compensation and quality agricultural land in the center of Rahat. The agreement also allowed for the completion of the northern entrance road to the city from Highway 6, which opened to traffic last year.

Now, with the approval of the plan for deposit, the family has received an additional area of several dozen dunams in the new industrial zone planned by the Bedouin Authority — an area whose economic value is significantly higher than the land they previously owned.

“This is a clear example of how compromise agreements are the right way to deal with historical ownership claims,” said the government. “They promote development and employment, resolve long-standing disputes by agreement, and benefit the claimants, the state, and the entire public.”