Tel Aviv, November 23 (RHC)-- The Israeli regime has approved a plan to establish five towns in an area populated by Palestinian Bedouins in the Negev Desert. The regime's Housing Minister Yoav Galant on Sunday praised the Israeli cabinet's approval of his plan to establish the towns in the southern Negev desert.

The Israeli government has escalated demolishing Palestinian homes across the Negev Desert. Palestinian Bedouins have refused to leave their land despite Israel's plans to press ahead with the forceful eviction of the ethnic group. Israeli authorities have been carrying out forced evacuations against Bedouins since 1949.

The demolition of Bedouin homes is part of Israel's massive land grab plan, which will forcefully displace thousands of people. Tel Aviv has so far refused to recognize the rights of Palestinian Bedouins and denies them access to basic services.

Human rights groups say the measure will lead to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians living there. The Israeli regime has already approved the construction of 1,500 new illegal settler units in East Jerusalem, despite widespread international criticism of the settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The international community regards all Israeli settlements built on the occupied Palestinian lands as illegal. More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.