RAMALLAH: The Israeli Lands Administration (ILA) inspectors backed by police force on Sunday demolished a mosque in the Bedouin city of Rahat, in southern Israel, saying they were "illegally built."

Fayez Abu Sehaiban, Rahat mayor, said that some 5,000 police officers secured the demolition of the Al-Sahwah Mosque in the city. He added that violent clashes erupted between the citizens who gathered to defend the mosque and the Israeli police. No injuries were reported, and Israeli officers used tear gas to disperse the crowd, Abu Sehaiban said. A few protesters were arrested.

The Rahat municipality decaled a general strike to protest the demolition. Rahat, situated just north of Be'er Sheva, is the Negev's only Bedouin city, with over 52,000 residents.

Abu Sehaiban claimed the act was a direct offense against Muslims, saying that the "police should act responsibly and use its discretion."

He added that the act was a "flagrant violation" of Rahat's jurisdiction.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the two-story mosque in the southern Israeli city of Rahat was knocked down under a court ruling. Before dawn, police armed with clubs and shields surrounded the area as a bulldozer knocked down the mosque.

Arab residents shouted in protest and conducted their prayers close to the site in defiance. Later, some protesters hurled rocks at police, Rosenfeld said. Five people were arrested; there were no injuries.

Hours after the mosque was demolished, residents began pouring cement to build the foundations for a new mosque on a nearby plot.

“They demolished it and we are rebuilding,” said Abu Sehaiban. He said the municipality tried to retroactively obtain a building permit.

The move is likely to further sour relations between Israel’s Jews and minority Arab community, which makes up one-fifth of the country’s seven million citizens. Although Israeli Arabs have full citizenship rights and participate actively in Israel’s democracy, they have suffered pervasive discrimination and tend to identify with their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Rahat is a fairly unique case of a town dominated by Bedouins — once nomadic Arab tribes who have their own dialects and customs. They once served in large numbers in Israel’s military, but years of neglect over housing and employment have pushed many of them toward Muslim movements.

By MOHAMMED MAR'I | ARAB NEWS