Bedouins in Israel’s Negev desert face bomb shelter shortage

Since the war in the Middle East began on February 28, Israelis have started using bomb shelters again, to protect themselves from missiles and rockets fired by Iran, their allies Hezbollah and, more recently, Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

When the sirens go off, residents head for nearby public bomb shelters (called "miklats") or the fortified security rooms inside their own homes (known as "mamads", which have been mandatory in all new constructions since 1992).

But not all Israelis get the same protection. 

A January 2026 report by Nagabiya – the research centre of the NGO Negev Coexistence Forum – estimated that 65 percent of the roughly 300,000 Bedouin Arab citizens living in the Negev Desert have no private shelters in their homes.

‘There’s nowhere they can go to keep themselves safe’

Attia Alasam, the president of the Regional Council of Unrecognised Villages of the Negev, lives in Abu Talul, in the northern Negev. He told our team:

“What do people do when they hear an alert? They enter a state of extreme fear. Because there are no shelters there. There’s nowhere they can go to keep themselves safe. We sit at home, and we pray.

There are people who take shelter under roads bridges, but that’s dangerous and there isn't enough room for everyone.

The vast majority of residents are staying in their homes. But these houses are in poor condition. They aren't sturdy enough to offer any real protection or safety. 

We feel in danger all the time. The children are afraid. You bring them into the house, and you know that the house cannot protect them.”

Shortage of public shelters

In January, before the war began, Nagabiya had warned of a shortage of public shelters, too.  

"We compared Bedouin towns and villages in the Negev with neighbouring Jewish towns and villages to show the disparity in the number of public shelters," explained Chloé Portheault, international advocacy representative for the Negev Coexistence Forum.

The Bedouin town of Rahat, home to roughly 80,000 people, had one shelter for 16,600 residents, for instance. In the nearby Jewish town of Ofakim, with a population of around 41,000, there was one shelter for every 273 residents, according to Nagabiya.

The report also highlights the lack of protection within the Bedouin education system, estimating that 400 shelters are needed in schools to meet the standards of the Home Front Command, the Israeli military's civil defence department.

In January 2026, the Israeli State Comptroller highlighted a nationwide "lack of protected spaces" and specified that "a particularly significant shortage of protection measures exists in the Bedouin diaspora in the Negev".

Yet, towns in the Negev region have been a target for airstrikes. On March 21, Iranian missiles hit the towns of Dimona, home to a nuclear facility, and Arad. Both towns are located just a few kilometres from Bedouin communities.

"Many of these Bedouin villages are not far from military bases, which puts them at risk," Portheault also said.

On March 24, debris from an intercepted Iranian missile hit a Bedouin village in the region, injuring three people. 

The problem is not new. On October 7, 2023, seven Bedouins were killed by rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza, according to Portheault. In April 2024, a Bedouin child was seriously injured by shrapnel from an Iranian missile strike. 

'If you build a private shelter, the state will immediately demolish it'

We asked Israel's Home Front Command to confirm the shelter figures. An army spokesperson said that shelters are the responsibility of private citizens and local authorities.

But local NGOs blame the shortage of shelters on discriminatory planning policies and systemic neglect. Some 80,000 Bedouins live in villages that are not recognised by the state, where they do not fall under any local authority and cannot obtain permits. Portheault told our team:

“In these villages, there are no services, no infrastructure, or very little. And the government does not issue permits. Since [the residents] do not have permits, even if a house is built, it will not necessarily be made of very solid materials. So they have even less of a possibility to build bomb shelters.”

But even within recognised Bedouin villages, access to shelters remains extremely limited, according to NGOs that point to the restricted number of permits granted.

Abu Talul, the village where Alasam lives, was recognised 20 years ago. But nothing has changed, he says. “People cannot make or build a private shelter for themselves. Because if you build a private shelter, the state will immediately come and demolish it.”

Temporary shelters

The Israeli army said that “throughout the war, efforts have been made to deploy a large number of protective structures of various types across the country, including extensive deployment in the Arab sector, as well as temporary protective structures and measures throughout the Bedouin diaspora.”

They said "dozens" of “Hesco” protective units – fortification made of bags filled with sand – have been installed in unrecognised Bedouin villages since October 2023. Portable shelters (known as “migunyots”) have also been deployed.

But Porthealt says this is not enough: 

“We aren't going to deny that there has been progress. Anything that can be put in place is better than nothing at all. But according to our figures, 160 mobile shelters and 70 Hesco barriers have been deployed, and that covers only about 2 percent of what is needed.

Furthermore, they don't provide the same level of protection as standard shelters like 'miklats' — especially when it comes to Iranian missiles. If there is a direct hit, mobile shelters just aren't enough. They might hold up against falling debris, but not a direct impact."

When questioned on the subject, the Israeli army said these protective structures were “highly effective against blast and shrapnel impact but not against direct hits”.

‘We are demanding that the government act as a government and protect its people’

In response to the situation, NGOs are also attempting to intervene to provide better protection for Bedouin communities. 

Standing Together, an Israeli organisation that raised funds for temporary shelters during the 12-day war in June 2025, relaunched a campaign in early March.

“We realised that everyone was afraid, but some of us had a safe space to be, and many of us did not have. We started a campaign of fundraising to buy new shelters that are really expensive. Together, in June and now, we raised over half a million shekels. It was in the time 20 shelters that we installed, and 10 shelters that we are installing now.

Every day we're receiving many calls from people asking us to come. We know that is not enough. There are tens of thousands of people who live in this situation.

It's ridiculous that we live in a cycle of wars, and a big part of the population doesn't have any space to protect themselves. We are demanding that the government act as a government and protect its people, without distinguishing between where they come from, or who they are.”

It's not just Israel's Bedouins who face a shortage of shelters. A 2018 report from Israel’s State Comptroller found that 46 percent of all Arab-Israelis had inadequate access to shelters, compared with 26 percent of the overall population. 

Read moreIsrael: Arab-Israelis face unequal access to bomb shelters