2 Killed in Clashes Over Demolition of Arab Bedouin Village in Israel

— -- JERUSALEM - One policeman and one villager was killed Wednesday in clashes in the Arab Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in Israel before a planned demolition operation.

The clashes broke out between Israeli police and the Arab villagers as Israeli authorities prepared to demolish several structures that the government says are illegal constructions.

The villagers of Umm al-Hiran are Israeli citizens and members of a Bedouin tribe who have lived on the same plot of land since the late 50s. In 1957, the Israeli military forcefully removed the tribe from their original land in Khirbet Zubale.

But 60 years later, after more than a decade of court cases, the state wants that land back to build a Jewish town. Last year, Israel's high court ruled in favor of the government's plans.

Aerial footage released by the Israeli authorities shows police approaching a white SUV. At the four-second mark, a police officer approaches the car and shoots. He pops off at least three shots as the car remains still. It's unclear exactly what his shots hit. Then the car accelerates down a steep hill and veers into a crowd of policemen before careening into another vehicle and coming to a stop.

Israeli police called the incident a deliberate "car-ramming" attack by a Bedouin with Israeli citizenship, identified as 50-year-old school teacher Yaakub Abu al-Qiyan. The police officer killed was identified as 37-year-old Erez Levy. Al-Qiyan died of gunshot wounds.

Locals who were at the scene said that the driver lost control of his vehicle only after he was shot by police. He had his whole life packed into the SUV and he was trying to leave the village, locals said.

The Israeli police have already called al-Qiyan a "terrorist," and said they are investigating his possible affiliation with ISIS, but no supporting evidence was immediately made public.

"This is the second ramming attack within the space of a few days. We are fighting this murderous phenomenon which has hit both in Israel and in other parts of the world," Prime Minister Netanyahu said, referring to recent vehicular attacks in Israel and Europe.

Several other people were injured in the clashes that followed, including Knesset Member Ayman Odeh. Odeh and other Arab leaders had been at the village all night awaiting the forced Israeli evacuation.

"The policemen attacked me, brutally beating me," said Odeh. "We did not try to stir things up - it is plain and simple. We wanted to negotiate. What happened is a disgrace."

Amnesty International has called for an investigation into possible police brutality in the day's violence.

"The Israeli judiciary and the government are responsible for the killing in the village today," the Arab advocacy group Adalah said in a statement. "The Israeli Supreme Court's decision to allow the state to proceed with its plan to demolish the village, which has existed for 60 years, in order to establish a Jewish town called 'Hiran' over its ruins, is one of the most racist judgments that the Court has ever issued."

The Negev desert accounts for over half of Israel's land mass, but only about 10 percent of Israeli citizens live there, including more than 100,000 Bedouins. Umm al-Hiran is one of dozens of so-called "unrecognized" villages, and according to Amnesty International, they live without electricity, water, and other basic services the state refuses to provide.

"The Bedouin public is a part of us," Netanyahu said on Wednesday, "We want to integrate it into Israeli society and not to polarize it and cause it to distance itself from the focus of our existence here."

Some five of the village's 70 structures were demolished Wednesday, according to journalists on the ground.

By the time the dust cleared and the sun set Wednesday, several of the village's former inhabitants were left picking through the remains of their homes.