4 june 2018
Officers of Israel’s Nature And Parks Authority (INPA) reportedly resumed excavation work on Sunday, at the Palestinian Bab-al-Rahma cemetery, just outside the walls of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem.
WAFA reported, according to Ma’an, that INPA staff began digging up graves and land in the cemetery around 20 days ago.
Officials returned on Sunday, to continue digging, which was noted as being “for the benefit of building a national [Israeli] park on parts of the cemetery’s land.”
Last month, Israeli authorities placed metal fences around the parts of the cemetery that it intends on confiscating. The parts of the cemetery subject to confiscation and destruction contain the centuries-old graves of Muslim leaders.
In 2015, the Bab al-Rahma cemetery was subject to demolitions after Israeli authorities announced plans to seize parts of the cemetery for a national park trail, in 2015.
While Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, according to Palestinians and the international community, the city has remained an intricate part of the occupied Palestinian territory and would be considered the capital of any future Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution.
The fate of Jerusalem and its holy sites has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the “Judaization” of East Jerusalem.
The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution, in July of 2017, reaffirming the international body’s non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and condemned Israeli policies in the Old City.
The resolution referred to Israel as an “occupying power” in East Jerusalem, and stated that UNESCO “regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavations, tunneling, works, projects and other illegal practices in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law.”
WAFA reported, according to Ma’an, that INPA staff began digging up graves and land in the cemetery around 20 days ago.
Officials returned on Sunday, to continue digging, which was noted as being “for the benefit of building a national [Israeli] park on parts of the cemetery’s land.”
Last month, Israeli authorities placed metal fences around the parts of the cemetery that it intends on confiscating. The parts of the cemetery subject to confiscation and destruction contain the centuries-old graves of Muslim leaders.
In 2015, the Bab al-Rahma cemetery was subject to demolitions after Israeli authorities announced plans to seize parts of the cemetery for a national park trail, in 2015.
While Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, according to Palestinians and the international community, the city has remained an intricate part of the occupied Palestinian territory and would be considered the capital of any future Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution.
The fate of Jerusalem and its holy sites has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the “Judaization” of East Jerusalem.
The United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee adopted a resolution, in July of 2017, reaffirming the international body’s non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, and condemned Israeli policies in the Old City.
The resolution referred to Israel as an “occupying power” in East Jerusalem, and stated that UNESCO “regrets the failure of the Israeli occupying authorities to cease the persistent excavations, tunneling, works, projects and other illegal practices in East Jerusalem, particularly in and around the Old City of Jerusalem, which are illegal under international law.”
Extremist Israeli settlers, on Monday afternoon, took over a new house on Al-Sahla Street, in the old city of Hebron.
The house is part of the Qaitoun neighborhood and is in need of reconstruction. A group of Israeli settlers, heavily guarded by soldiers, took over the house.
The soldiers facilitated the settlers’ entry into the house, according to the PNN.
The area has been closed since 2001, and while shop owners and closed-door owners are not allowed access, settlers are allowed to use the area.
Staff from the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee removed an Israeli flag Jewish settlers had earlier put the house as a prelude to take it over, according to WAFA correspondence.
A complaint was also filed against the break in.
The house is part of the Qaitoun neighborhood and is in need of reconstruction. A group of Israeli settlers, heavily guarded by soldiers, took over the house.
The soldiers facilitated the settlers’ entry into the house, according to the PNN.
The area has been closed since 2001, and while shop owners and closed-door owners are not allowed access, settlers are allowed to use the area.
Staff from the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee removed an Israeli flag Jewish settlers had earlier put the house as a prelude to take it over, according to WAFA correspondence.
A complaint was also filed against the break in.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Monday at dawn, fourteen Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, including nine who were taken prisoner from their homes in Hebron.
The Hebron office of the PPS, in southern West Bank, said the soldiers stormed and ransacked many homes, interrogated dozens of Palestinians and abducted nine.
The abducted Palestinians have been identified as Oweis Hashem Rajoub, Mofeed Eqeilan Amayra, Karam Bassam Tanneena, Abada Mahmoud Adawi, Azzam Abu Arqoub, Raed Mofeed Sharabati, Ali Taleb al-Hroub and Mustafa Jamal al-Hroub.
The soldiers also abducted a former political prisoner, identified as Mohammad Ahmad ‘Aadi, 60, from his home in Safa area, in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers abducted Mohammad Nassim Taqatqa, Sami Awad Atallah and Yazid Mohammad Amarin.
In addition, the soldiers invaded Methaloon town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and abducted Sami Sadeq No’eirat, from his home.
Another Palestinian, identified as Qadri Ayyadh Ghawadra, from his home in Be’er al-Basha village, southwest of Jenin.
On Monday morning, the soldiers prevented a Palestinian from entering his farmland, near Azzoun town, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and threatened to confiscate his agricultural equipment.
The soldiers told the Palestinian that he is not allowed to work on his land, and ordered him to contact the “Civil Administration Office” in Eyal nearby illegal colony and security center.
The Hebron office of the PPS, in southern West Bank, said the soldiers stormed and ransacked many homes, interrogated dozens of Palestinians and abducted nine.
The abducted Palestinians have been identified as Oweis Hashem Rajoub, Mofeed Eqeilan Amayra, Karam Bassam Tanneena, Abada Mahmoud Adawi, Azzam Abu Arqoub, Raed Mofeed Sharabati, Ali Taleb al-Hroub and Mustafa Jamal al-Hroub.
The soldiers also abducted a former political prisoner, identified as Mohammad Ahmad ‘Aadi, 60, from his home in Safa area, in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers abducted Mohammad Nassim Taqatqa, Sami Awad Atallah and Yazid Mohammad Amarin.
In addition, the soldiers invaded Methaloon town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, and abducted Sami Sadeq No’eirat, from his home.
Another Palestinian, identified as Qadri Ayyadh Ghawadra, from his home in Be’er al-Basha village, southwest of Jenin.
On Monday morning, the soldiers prevented a Palestinian from entering his farmland, near Azzoun town, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and threatened to confiscate his agricultural equipment.
The soldiers told the Palestinian that he is not allowed to work on his land, and ordered him to contact the “Civil Administration Office” in Eyal nearby illegal colony and security center.
3 june 2018
Israeli soldiers, and personnel of the “Civil Administration Office,” run by the military in the occupied West Bank, started the construction work to expand an illegal colony, which was built on Palestinian lands, in the southern West Bank governorate of Hebron.
Ahmad Salhoob, the Mayor of Doura city, southwest of Hebron, said the army started bulldozing and preparing work for expanding Negohot illegal colony, on lands owned by villagers of Fqeiqis village, west of Doura city, southwest of Hebron.
He added that, three months ago, Israel decided to expand the colony, and issued orders for the illegal annexation of 210 Dunams of Palestinian lands.
Salhoob said the soldiers placed two mobile homes on the lands, before started preparation work for expanding the colony.
Ahmad Salhoob, the Mayor of Doura city, southwest of Hebron, said the army started bulldozing and preparing work for expanding Negohot illegal colony, on lands owned by villagers of Fqeiqis village, west of Doura city, southwest of Hebron.
He added that, three months ago, Israel decided to expand the colony, and issued orders for the illegal annexation of 210 Dunams of Palestinian lands.
Salhoob said the soldiers placed two mobile homes on the lands, before started preparation work for expanding the colony.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) called on the government of Israel to cease its plans to carry out the mass demolition and transfer of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar, located on the eastern outskirts of Occupied Jerusalem.
OCHA said the projected demolition follows the Israeli High Court of Justice’s 24 May rejection of the community’s petition to prevent the demolitions, marking an end to years-long legal efforts and leaving virtually no legal options to protect the community.
“Like many Palestinians in Area C, the residents of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu have fought for years to live with dignity, to protect their children, their homes, and their community,” read OCHA’s statement. “They have struggled in the face of tremendous daily pressure and are asking for the continued support of the international community to prevent the demolition of their homes.”
Nearly all of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu’s structures are now at immediate risk of demolition by the Israeli authorities, including the school, initially built with donor support. The school serves some 170 students from the community and four surrounding ones.
The proposed transfer seeks to move the rural livestock-dependent community to an urban site unsuitable for Bedouin livelihood, culture and traditions and is likely to increase their level of humanitarian need.
“After nine years of legal battle, this refugee community now faces the demolition of their homes, the loss of traditional livelihoods and the imminent risk of forcible transfer should the demolitions be conducted and the community be compelled to relocate, which would be a grave breach of the Geneva Convention,” said OCHA.
“Many already displaced from the Negev as a result of the 1948 conflict; they now face being displaced for a second time. As we have seen in similar circumstances in the past, the transfer of rural Bedouin to the urban setting of Jabal West, proposed by the Israeli state, will likely prove socially and economically devastating,” it added.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is one of 18 communities located in or next to an area slated in part for the E1 settlement plan, aimed at creating a continuous built-up area between the Ma’ale Adummim settlement and eastern Jerusalem. This week, the Israeli authorities approved a planning scheme providing for the construction of 92 new housing units and an educational institution in the Kfar Adummim settlement, immediately adjacent to Khan al Ahmar; this settlement has also petitioned the High Court for the implementation of the outstanding demolition orders against the community.
“Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to protect the residents of Khan al Ahmar are clear,” said OCHA. “Should the Israeli authorities choose to implement the outstanding demolition orders in the community and force the people to leave, they would not only generate significant humanitarian hardship but also commit one of the grave breaches of international humanitarian law,” he concluded.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is home to 181 people, 53 per cent of whom are children and 95 per cent of whom are Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA. The community is one of dozens of herding communities in Area C of the West Bank that the UN views as being at risk of forcible transfer due to a coercive environment generated by Israeli practices and policies, including plans to move the communities from their current locations.
International humanitarian law (requires an occupying power to protect the population of the territory that it occupies, ensure its welfare and wellbeing, as well as the respect for its human rights.
The extensive demolition of property is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and may amount to a war crime.
OCHA said the projected demolition follows the Israeli High Court of Justice’s 24 May rejection of the community’s petition to prevent the demolitions, marking an end to years-long legal efforts and leaving virtually no legal options to protect the community.
“Like many Palestinians in Area C, the residents of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu have fought for years to live with dignity, to protect their children, their homes, and their community,” read OCHA’s statement. “They have struggled in the face of tremendous daily pressure and are asking for the continued support of the international community to prevent the demolition of their homes.”
Nearly all of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu’s structures are now at immediate risk of demolition by the Israeli authorities, including the school, initially built with donor support. The school serves some 170 students from the community and four surrounding ones.
The proposed transfer seeks to move the rural livestock-dependent community to an urban site unsuitable for Bedouin livelihood, culture and traditions and is likely to increase their level of humanitarian need.
“After nine years of legal battle, this refugee community now faces the demolition of their homes, the loss of traditional livelihoods and the imminent risk of forcible transfer should the demolitions be conducted and the community be compelled to relocate, which would be a grave breach of the Geneva Convention,” said OCHA.
“Many already displaced from the Negev as a result of the 1948 conflict; they now face being displaced for a second time. As we have seen in similar circumstances in the past, the transfer of rural Bedouin to the urban setting of Jabal West, proposed by the Israeli state, will likely prove socially and economically devastating,” it added.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is one of 18 communities located in or next to an area slated in part for the E1 settlement plan, aimed at creating a continuous built-up area between the Ma’ale Adummim settlement and eastern Jerusalem. This week, the Israeli authorities approved a planning scheme providing for the construction of 92 new housing units and an educational institution in the Kfar Adummim settlement, immediately adjacent to Khan al Ahmar; this settlement has also petitioned the High Court for the implementation of the outstanding demolition orders against the community.
“Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to protect the residents of Khan al Ahmar are clear,” said OCHA. “Should the Israeli authorities choose to implement the outstanding demolition orders in the community and force the people to leave, they would not only generate significant humanitarian hardship but also commit one of the grave breaches of international humanitarian law,” he concluded.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is home to 181 people, 53 per cent of whom are children and 95 per cent of whom are Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA. The community is one of dozens of herding communities in Area C of the West Bank that the UN views as being at risk of forcible transfer due to a coercive environment generated by Israeli practices and policies, including plans to move the communities from their current locations.
International humanitarian law (requires an occupying power to protect the population of the territory that it occupies, ensure its welfare and wellbeing, as well as the respect for its human rights.
The extensive demolition of property is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and may amount to a war crime.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at daybreak Sunday injured a young man and arrested others in an abduction sweep rocking the West Bank.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the abduction of seven Palestinians on allegations of hurling stones at settlers’ cars.
The IOF ravaged Palestinian homes in al-Khalil and seized thousands of shekels.
The assault culminated in the abduction of a Palestinian citizen from his family’s home in Idna town, west of al-Khalil.
At the same time, four Palestinians, among them a 16-year-old minor, were kidnapped by the Israeli military from Bethlehem province.
Meanwhile, one Palestinian young man was injured and another arrested after Israeli soldiers stormed the villages of Beit Reema and Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the abduction of seven Palestinians on allegations of hurling stones at settlers’ cars.
The IOF ravaged Palestinian homes in al-Khalil and seized thousands of shekels.
The assault culminated in the abduction of a Palestinian citizen from his family’s home in Idna town, west of al-Khalil.
At the same time, four Palestinians, among them a 16-year-old minor, were kidnapped by the Israeli military from Bethlehem province.
Meanwhile, one Palestinian young man was injured and another arrested after Israeli soldiers stormed the villages of Beit Reema and Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah city in the occupied West Bank.
2 june 2018
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) ordered on Saturday a halt on the construction of a school in the village of Mreiha, near Ya’bad town to the south of Jenin, in northern West Bank, local sources said.
Local sources told PIC reporter that Israeli forces confiscated the working equipment from the site and ordered the construction to stop, for allegedly being built without an Israeli construction permit.
Ya’bad Municipal Council strongly condemned the Israeli order and vowed to continue the construction of the school despite of the Israeli order, the sources added.
Local sources told PIC reporter that Israeli forces confiscated the working equipment from the site and ordered the construction to stop, for allegedly being built without an Israeli construction permit.
Ya’bad Municipal Council strongly condemned the Israeli order and vowed to continue the construction of the school despite of the Israeli order, the sources added.
1 june 2018
The Israeli authorities must immediately cancel plans to demolish the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar and the forcible eviction of the community living there, said Amnesty International, ahead of the anticipated arrival of bulldozers on 1 June after the demolition was authorized by Israel’s Supreme Court last week.
Residents of the village are set to be transferred to a site near the former Jerusalem municipal garbage dump near the village of Abu Dis.
"Last week’s outrageous decision by the Supreme Court to allow the Israeli army to demolish the entire village of Khan al-Ahmar was a devastating blow to the families who have spent nearly a decade campaigning and fighting a legal battle to remain on their land and maintain their way of life. Going ahead with the demolition is not only cruel, it would also amount to forcible transfer, which is a war crime,” said Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi.
"The Israeli authorities have shattered thousands of Palestinian lives, exposing men, women and children to years of trauma and anxiety through their deeply discriminatory policy of first denying building permits, and then bulldozing people’s homes, schools, and herding structures,” said Magdalena Mughrabi. “Instead of consistently punishing Palestinians for building without permits, the Israeli authorities must stop their construction and expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank as a first move towards removing Israeli civilians living in such settlements.”
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is extremely dangerous and may set a precedent for other communities that oppose Israeli plans to relocate them to urban centres. The Israeli authorities must abide by their international legal obligations and abandon any plans to forcibly transfer Khan al-Ahmar and any other communities."
Khan al-Ahmar is inhabited by about 180 residents from the Jahalin Bedouin tribe. It is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements east of Occupied Jerusalem.
For more than 60 years, members of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe have been struggling to maintain their way of life. Forced from their lands in the Negev desert in the 1950s, they have been continually harassed, pressured and resettled by successive Israeli governments, Amnesty’s report read.
In late August 2017, Israeli Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman announced that the Israeli government would evacuate the entire community within several months. On 24 May, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of demolishing the entire village of Khan al Ahmar, including its school which is constructed from rubber tyre and provides education for some 170 children from five different Bedouin communities.
The Court ruled that the village was built without relevant building permits, even though these are impossible for Palestinians to obtain in the Israeli-controlled areas of the occupied West Bank known as Area C.
Khan al-Ahmar is located about two kilometres south of Kfar Adumin settlement in the occupied West Bank. The Bedouin community living there suffers from recurring Israeli settler violence, including on children, as well as attacks on their homes. The Israeli authorities have refused to connect the village to water and electricity supplies, and have restricted their grazing land.
Since 1967, Israel has forcibly evicted and displaced entire communities and demolished more than 50,000 Palestinian homes and structures.
Residents of the village are set to be transferred to a site near the former Jerusalem municipal garbage dump near the village of Abu Dis.
"Last week’s outrageous decision by the Supreme Court to allow the Israeli army to demolish the entire village of Khan al-Ahmar was a devastating blow to the families who have spent nearly a decade campaigning and fighting a legal battle to remain on their land and maintain their way of life. Going ahead with the demolition is not only cruel, it would also amount to forcible transfer, which is a war crime,” said Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi.
"The Israeli authorities have shattered thousands of Palestinian lives, exposing men, women and children to years of trauma and anxiety through their deeply discriminatory policy of first denying building permits, and then bulldozing people’s homes, schools, and herding structures,” said Magdalena Mughrabi. “Instead of consistently punishing Palestinians for building without permits, the Israeli authorities must stop their construction and expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank as a first move towards removing Israeli civilians living in such settlements.”
“The Supreme Court’s ruling is extremely dangerous and may set a precedent for other communities that oppose Israeli plans to relocate them to urban centres. The Israeli authorities must abide by their international legal obligations and abandon any plans to forcibly transfer Khan al-Ahmar and any other communities."
Khan al-Ahmar is inhabited by about 180 residents from the Jahalin Bedouin tribe. It is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements east of Occupied Jerusalem.
For more than 60 years, members of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe have been struggling to maintain their way of life. Forced from their lands in the Negev desert in the 1950s, they have been continually harassed, pressured and resettled by successive Israeli governments, Amnesty’s report read.
In late August 2017, Israeli Minister of Defence Avigdor Lieberman announced that the Israeli government would evacuate the entire community within several months. On 24 May, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of demolishing the entire village of Khan al Ahmar, including its school which is constructed from rubber tyre and provides education for some 170 children from five different Bedouin communities.
The Court ruled that the village was built without relevant building permits, even though these are impossible for Palestinians to obtain in the Israeli-controlled areas of the occupied West Bank known as Area C.
Khan al-Ahmar is located about two kilometres south of Kfar Adumin settlement in the occupied West Bank. The Bedouin community living there suffers from recurring Israeli settler violence, including on children, as well as attacks on their homes. The Israeli authorities have refused to connect the village to water and electricity supplies, and have restricted their grazing land.
Since 1967, Israel has forcibly evicted and displaced entire communities and demolished more than 50,000 Palestinian homes and structures.
United Nations officials, on Friday, called on Israel to abandon plans to demolish and transfer the Palestinian residents of Khan al-Ahmar community, east of Jerusalem.
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Director of Operations in the West Bank, Scott Anderson, joined others in the international community in calling on the government of Israel to cease its plans to carry out the mass demolition and transfer of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu, located on the outskirts of East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
“Like many Palestinians in Area C, the residents of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu have fought for years to live with dignity, to protect their children, their homes, and their community,” said McGoldrick. “They have struggled in the face of tremendous daily pressure and are asking for the continued support of the international community to prevent the demolition of their homes.”
Following the Israeli Supreme Court’s May 24 rejection of the community’s petition to prevent the demolitions, marking an end to years-long legal efforts and leaving virtually no legal options to protect the community, nearly all of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu’s structures are now at immediate risk of demolition by the Israeli authorities, including the school, initially built with donor support.
The school serves some 170 students from the community and four surrounding ones. The proposed transfer seeks to move the rural livestock-dependent community to an urban site unsuitable for Bedouin livelihood, culture and traditions and is likely to increase their level of humanitarian need.
“After nine years of legal battle, this refugee community now faces the demolition of their homes, the loss of traditional livelihoods and the imminent risk of forcible transfer should the demolitions be conducted and the community be compelled to relocate, which would be a grave breach of the Geneva Convention,” said Anderson. “Many already displaced from the [Naqab] as a result of the 1948 conflict; they now face being displaced for a second time.
As we have seen in similar circumstances in the past, the transfer of rural Bedouin to the urban setting of Jabal West, proposed by the Israeli state, will likely prove socially and economically devastating,” he concluded, according to WAFA.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is one of 18 communities located in or next to an area slated in part for the E1 settlement plan, aimed at creating a continuous built-up area between the Maale Adumim settlement and East Jerusalem. This week, the Israeli authorities approved a planning scheme providing for the construction of 92 new housing units and an educational institution in the Kfar Adumim settlement, immediately adjacent to Khan al Ahmar; this settlement has also petitioned the High Court for the implementation of the outstanding demolition orders against the community.
“Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to protect the residents of Khan al Ahmar are clear,” said McGoldrick. “Should the Israeli authorities choose to implement the outstanding demolition orders in the community and force the people to leave, they would not only generate significant humanitarian hardship but also commit one of the grave breaches of international humanitarian law,” he concluded.
03/06/18 Khan al-Ahmar Village Scheduled for Demolition
The Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Director of Operations in the West Bank, Scott Anderson, joined others in the international community in calling on the government of Israel to cease its plans to carry out the mass demolition and transfer of the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu, located on the outskirts of East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.
“Like many Palestinians in Area C, the residents of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu have fought for years to live with dignity, to protect their children, their homes, and their community,” said McGoldrick. “They have struggled in the face of tremendous daily pressure and are asking for the continued support of the international community to prevent the demolition of their homes.”
Following the Israeli Supreme Court’s May 24 rejection of the community’s petition to prevent the demolitions, marking an end to years-long legal efforts and leaving virtually no legal options to protect the community, nearly all of Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu’s structures are now at immediate risk of demolition by the Israeli authorities, including the school, initially built with donor support.
The school serves some 170 students from the community and four surrounding ones. The proposed transfer seeks to move the rural livestock-dependent community to an urban site unsuitable for Bedouin livelihood, culture and traditions and is likely to increase their level of humanitarian need.
“After nine years of legal battle, this refugee community now faces the demolition of their homes, the loss of traditional livelihoods and the imminent risk of forcible transfer should the demolitions be conducted and the community be compelled to relocate, which would be a grave breach of the Geneva Convention,” said Anderson. “Many already displaced from the [Naqab] as a result of the 1948 conflict; they now face being displaced for a second time.
As we have seen in similar circumstances in the past, the transfer of rural Bedouin to the urban setting of Jabal West, proposed by the Israeli state, will likely prove socially and economically devastating,” he concluded, according to WAFA.
Khan al Ahmar – Abu al Helu is one of 18 communities located in or next to an area slated in part for the E1 settlement plan, aimed at creating a continuous built-up area between the Maale Adumim settlement and East Jerusalem. This week, the Israeli authorities approved a planning scheme providing for the construction of 92 new housing units and an educational institution in the Kfar Adumim settlement, immediately adjacent to Khan al Ahmar; this settlement has also petitioned the High Court for the implementation of the outstanding demolition orders against the community.
“Israel’s obligations as an occupying power to protect the residents of Khan al Ahmar are clear,” said McGoldrick. “Should the Israeli authorities choose to implement the outstanding demolition orders in the community and force the people to leave, they would not only generate significant humanitarian hardship but also commit one of the grave breaches of international humanitarian law,” he concluded.
03/06/18 Khan al-Ahmar Village Scheduled for Demolition