Israel’s top court today temporarily suspended the planned demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has become a focus of Palestinian protests and international concern, a lawyer for the residents said, Reuters reports.
The Supreme Court injunction, issued a day after Israeli security forces violently attacked protesters in Khan Al-Ahmar, gave the state until July 11 to respond to the villagers’ contention that they had been unfairly denied building permits, lawyer Alaa Mahajna told Reuters.
A Supreme Court Justice issued a temporary injunction Thursday on the eviction and demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bankhttps://t.co/pQWYi5z1de
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 6, 2018
Around 180 Bedouin, raising sheep and goats, live in tin and wood shacks in Khan Al-Ahmar.
Last year Israeli authorities informed the High Court that they plan to seize the land where the community is located and displace its residents, although the land is registered as owned by Palestinian citizens from the nearby town of Anata. The land is set to be used to expand nearby illegal Jewish only settlements.
Palestinians are being dragged, beaten and arrested for defending the Bedouin village of Khan al Ahmar in the occupied West Bank pic.twitter.com/bhp1mbKCEG
— TRT World (@trtworld) July 5, 2018
The residents of Khan Al-Ahmar, known as Al-Jahhalin Bedouins, are refugees from the Negev desert who have lived in the area south of Jerusalem since their displacement by the Israeli army in 1967.
Israel has refused to recognize Al-Jahhalin Bedouin communities or grant them building permits.
Palestinians say Israeli building permits for Khan al-Ahmar have been impossible to get. Israel has long sought to clear Bedouin from the area between the two settlements, and the Supreme Court approved the demolition in May.
A lovely photo with local children in their school when we visited the village of Khan al Ahmar. And three photos just taken in Khan al Ahmar of Israel’s Government’s bulldozers and forces going in to wipe the school, community and people off the map. This has to stop! pic.twitter.com/y0z1vSQePF
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) July 4, 2018
Removing the Bedouin, human rights groups say, would create a bigger settlement pocket near Jerusalem and make it more difficult for Palestinians to achieve territorial contiguity in the West Bank, a territory they seek along with the Gaza Strip for a future state.
Israel said it plans to relocate the residents to an area about 12 kilometers (seven miles) away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.
Israel's top court freezes demolition of Khan al-Ahmar
Read more: https://t.co/zqU5lAYxu9 pic.twitter.com/DwrnFbAeyq
— ISM Palestine (@ISMPalestine) July 5, 2018
The new site is adjacent to a landfill and rights advocates say that a forcible transfer of the residents would violate international law applying to occupied territory. The United Nations and European Union have come out against the plan.
(MEMO, PC, Social Media)
