Despite international criticism and European warning, Israel begins steps to demolish Khan alAhmar

Despite international criticism and European warning, Israel begins with practical steps to demolish Khan alAhmar Today Fraiday by closing all the roads leading to the village, located east of Jerusalem.

Local sources told PNN that Israeli occupation authorities have closed roads leading to Al-Khan Al-Ahmar village, east of Jerusalem since early morning hours.

The sources in the village said that an Israeli army bulldozer began to close the roads leading to the village of Al-Waday al-Ahmar, which was evacuated early Sunday morning in the northern area of  Khan al-Ahmar village.

After that the IOF bulldozing start closing main road leading to the village of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar.

The people of thevillage try to prevent the bulldozers from closing the roads by sating on their way in peaceful protest but Israeli occupation forces arrested four of them in addition to French activist.

Clashes broke out in the village Between residents of the village,activists on one side and Israeli occupation forces on the other.

The sourcres said the number of Palestinians including old men were injured and four of them arrested, including Suleiman al-Hathalin, Abu Adel, Ibrahim Hassan Abu Dahouk Abu Bajas, Abu Nimr from Jericho and a French man identified as Frank Romanio.

Minister Walid Assaf, chairman of the Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission, was among hundreds of protesters who gathered outside the village to protest the closure of its roads and the Israeli plan to demolish the village.

In the meantime, hundreds of protesters who were able to reach the village despite of the Israeli road closures performed Friday prayer inside the village to show solidarity with its local Bedouin population who are in danger of forced displacement.

Recent developments came despite warnings from international institutions to Israel like International Committee of the Red Cross who expressed deep concern over Israel’s decision to demolish the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar and other structures in the West Bank’s Area C.

Head of the ICRC Mission in Jerusalem David Quesne said in a press statement: “The planned demolitions will dramatically affect the lives and dignity of this community.”

“As long as zoning and planning policies in the West Bank fail to serve the population living under occupation, they cannot be used as justification for destruction of property,” he added.

The Israeli High Court has recently issued a ruling giving the green light for the military to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, which has become a focus of Palestinian interest and international concern, and forcibly displace people there.

“As the Occupying Power in the West Bank, Israel is bound by the International Humanitarian Law. It has a duty to ensure the protection, security, and welfare of the people living under occupation and to guarantee that they can live as normal a life as possible, in accordance with their own laws, culture, and traditions,” the statement concluded.

Khan al-Ahmar is one of the Palestinian communities Israel is threatening with demolition and forcible transfer in Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule under the terms of the Oslo Accords.

Israeli refuses to permit virtually any Palestinian construction in Area C, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

For its part European Union has declared yasterday its rejection of Israel’s decision and demanded that it retreat this decision.

The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday saying Israel’s planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar would amount to a war crime, and demanded Israel compensate the EU for the demolition of EU-funded structures in the village.

The resolution, which is being hailed by activists as the harshest condemnation to come from the EU regarding Khan al-Ahmar, comes just days after Israel’s High Court gave the government the final green light to demolish the village.

It calls on Israel to cease “its policy of threats of demolition and actual eviction against the Bedouin communities” living in the occupied West Bank and inside Israel, particularly in the southern Negev desert.

The resolution demands compensation from Israel for up to EUR 315,000 that the EU invested in the village, and called on EU leaders to ensure Israel protect vulnerable Palestinian communities living in Area C — the area of the occupied West Bank where Palestinian construction is virtually banned by Israel.

International officials have warned that the destruction of Khan al-Ahmar, which has been embroiled in a legal battle with the Israeli government for decades, would pave the way for the destruction of dozens of other communities in Area C.