Image copyright Reuters Image caption Khan al-Ahmar was established in the 1950s by members of a tribe from the Negev desert

Israel's Supreme Court has rejected appeals against the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has been a subject of international concern.

Judges upheld an order to raze Khan al-Ahmar, where about 180 people live in shacks between two Jewish settlements.

Israel's government says the structures were built illegally, but Palestinians say permits are impossible to obtain.

An injunction against the demolition will expire within seven days.

The United Nations has called on Israel to allow the Bedouin to remain on the land, saying such demolitions are against international law.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Israel's government says the structures were built illegally on state-owned land

Khan al-Ahmar, which is 8km (5 miles) east of Jerusalem, was established in the early 1950s by members of a semi-nomadic tribe the UN says was displaced from the Negev desert in southern Israel.

Israel did not recognise Khan al-Ahmar as a residential area after it occupied the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East war, and refused to connect the community to utilities like water and electricity.

Since 2009, residents have been fighting demolition orders issued for the wooden and corrugated iron shacks in which they live, as well as a clinic, mosque and an Italian-funded primary school.

The Israeli government said the structures were built on state-owned land without permits from the Israeli military which, under the 1993 Oslo Accords, has exclusive control over construction in the 60% of the West Bank known as "Area C".

Palestinians complain that the Israeli military refuses the vast majority of Palestinian building requests and say they are left with little option except to build without permission.

In May, the Supreme Court rejected petitions to prevent the demolitions at Khan al-Ahmar and the relocation of its residents to a site designated by the Israeli government near the Palestinian town of Abu Dis.

After the Israeli military began preparations for the demolitions in July residents filed new petitions to the Supreme Court , including one asking for the original verdict to be overturned and another for the eviction to be delayed until they could find somewhere else to live.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Khan al-Ahmar residents saw their appeals rejected

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman congratulated the court on Wednesday's ruling upholding the demolition order, which he said had come despite "the orchestrated hypocrisy of Abu Mazen [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas], the Left and European states".

"Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he added.

The head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's human rights body, Ahmed al-Tamimi, warned Israel against proceeding with the demolition, calling it a "flagrant challenge to the whole world and a serious violation of the international humanitarian law and human rights".

The UN has previously warned that 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.

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Any destruction of property by the occupying power is prohibited, except when rendered absolutely necessary by military operations, the UN says. The extensive demolition of property is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and may amount to a war crime, it adds.

Other than for the security of the population or imperative military reasons, international humanitarian law also prohibits the transfer of the population of an occupied territory without the genuinely and fully informed consent of the affected people, according to the UN.

Khan al-Ahmar is one of 18 Bedouin communities the UN considers being at risk of forcible transfer because they are located in or next to an area near East Jerusalem slated by Israel for Jewish settlement construction. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.</s>Israel’s top court has greenlighted the eviction of a West Bank Bedouin village despite earlier international uproar. The Palestinian authorities have slammed the move, calling on the global community to “intervene immediately.”

The Israeli High Court of Justice rejected an appeal from the residents of Khan Al-Ahmar, a Bedouin village east of Jerusalem, effectively greenlighting its demolition on Wednesday. Israel says the village was built without an Israeli permit, but Palestinians say they are impossible to obtain. Tel Aviv’s plan to raze the village, which is home to around 180 people, more than half of whom are children, has been met with an avalanche of international condemnation, including from the UN, high-ranking EU officials, and Amnesty International.

However, all this has not deterred Israel from ruling that the village can be bulldozed and the Palestinian government is calling to take action.

“The International community must come out of its ineffective condemnations shell and intervene immediately to defend its human and legal system, which Israel is explicitly penetrating into,” it said in a statement as cited by Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian authorities believe that the move is aimed at the implementation of the ‘E1 colonial project’, which was designed to create “an arc of settlements around East Jerusalem effectively alienating it from the West Bank and killing any hopes for a future contiguous Palestinian State.”

It is unclear where the families of the village are going to move as alternative sites suggested by Israel were rejected. One of them is close to a landfill site belonging to the nearby town of Abu Dis, and the other lies in a desert location south-west of Jericho – which is also inappropriate for “a community that has animals and needs grazing,” according to the UN.

The UN has repeatedly warned Israel against forced evictions, including in Khan-al-Ahmar, as it may lead to the forcible transfer of the population of an occupied territory, considered illegal under international humanitarian law. Amnesty International said that forced transfers amount to war crimes under a statute of the International Criminal Court.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!</s>, JERUSALEM, Israel, Sept 5 – Israel’s top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, clearing the way for the demolition to go ahead despite international pressure.

The ruling means that in seven days authorities will be allowed to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which Israel says was built illegally.

“We reject the petitions” against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its decision, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings “will be cancelled in seven days from today”.

It will now be down to the authorities to decide when to carry out the demolition after the restriction order ends.

The United Nations, European Union and rights groups have opposed the razing of the village, which consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood.

They argue the move will enable Israeli settlement expansion that would cut the West Bank in two, making the prospects of a Palestinian state even dimmer.

In May, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

The court said Khan al-Ahmar residents had rejected proposals by the state regarding the site of their relocation, and expressed hope “the dialogue” would continue.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Hussein Abu Dahook, a resident of the hamlet, said the court wanted to “expel Palestinians and replace them with Israelis”.

“We are already refugees, we were expelled 70 years ago, and they want us to move again?” he said, referring to the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s foundation and forced many Arabs from their homes.

But while Israel has “guns and tanks,” residents of Khan al-Ahmar would “stay to the end,” Abu Dahook vowed.

Tawfiq Jabareen, one of the lawyers representing Khan al-Ahmar residents in the petitions, said the court “was following Israel’s right-wing government” in its ruling, which he said was “legally wrong”.

“It is not based on legal arguments and contradicts past supreme court rulings,” he told AFP. “This is unfortunately what the government wants, and the court doesn’t want to intervene.”

Jabareen said there were currently no understandings between the state and residents on a voluntary relocation.

“I’ve never seen someone who’s being expelled and whose house is being destroyed sitting idly by,” he said.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of “the coordinated attack of hypocrisy by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas), the left and European states”.

“Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state,” he said.

Khan al-Ahmar, which is east of Jerusalem, is located near several major Israeli settlements and close to a highway leading to the Dead Sea.

Diplomats from Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the European Union in July expressed their support of the village, and the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, condemned the Israeli demolition order.</s>Israel's top court cleared the way on Wednesday for the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has become a focus of Palestinian protests and international concern.

The Supreme Court, in a decision released by a court spokesman, rejected petitions against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and said a temporary injunction that had put a hold on the move would lapse in a week.

Around 180 Bedouin, raising sheep and goats, live in tin and wood shacks in Khan al-Ahmar. It is situated outside Jerusalem between two Israeli settlements.

Israel said it plans to relocate the residents to an area about 12 km (seven miles) away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.

But 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.

Most countries consider settlements built by Israel on land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War as illegal, and an obstacle to peace. They say they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians seek for a viable state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.</s>Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision.

There has been strong international pressure on Israel to reverse its plans to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which the Israeli authorities say was built illegally.

"We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings "will be cancelled within seven days from today."

It will now be down to the authorities to decide when to carry out the demolition after the restriction order ends.

The present village consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is generally the case with Bedouin sites.

In May, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

The court said Khan al-Ahmar residents had rejected proposals by the state regarding the site of their relocation, and expressed hope "the dialogue" would continue.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Tawfiq Jabareen, one of the lawyers representing Khan al-Ahmar residents in the petitions, said the court "was following Israel's rightwing government" in its ruling, which he said was "legally wrong".

"It is not based on legal arguments and contradicts past supreme court rulings," he told AFP. "This is unfortunately what the government wants, and the court doesn't want to intervene."

Jabareen said there were currently no understandings between the state and residents on a voluntary relocation.

"I’ve never seen someone who’s being expelled and whose house is being destroyed sitting idly by," he said.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of "the coordinated attack of hypocrisy by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas), the left and European states."

"Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he said.</s>JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s top court cleared the way on Wednesday for the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has become a focus of Palestinian protests and international concern.

The Supreme Court, in a decision released by a court spokesman, rejected petitions against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and said a temporary injunction that had put a hold on the move would lapse in a week.</s>JERUSALEM: Israel's top court on Wednesday (Sep 5) upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision.

There has been strong international pressure on Israel to reverse its plans to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which the Israeli authorities say was built illegally.

"We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings "will be cancelled within seven days from today".

The present village consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is generally the case with Bedouin sites.

In May, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of "the coordinated hypocrisy attack by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) Abu Mazen, the left and European states".

"Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he said in a statement.</s>JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition by the residents of a West Bank Bedouin village slated to be razed to halt the demolition.

An injunction against the plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, located outside of Jerusalem near Maale Adumin, expires in a week. The international community and human rights organizations have rallied in support of the village.

In their decision Wednesday, the justices also declined to delay Khan al-Ahmar’s demolition until an alternative site is found for its approximately 200 residents.

The Supreme Court had authorized the demolition in May, since the homes were built without permits. The July injunction called on the state to review a compromise offer drawn up by the locals that would legalize the village.

Critics of the demolition believe that Israel is tearing down the village in order to make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov called the impending demolition “against international law” and tweeted that it would “undermine prospect for two-state solution.”</s>Israel's top court says West Bank village can be demolished

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for the demolition of a Bedouin village in the West Bank, rejecting a final appeal in a case that has drawn heavy international criticism and become a rallying cry for the Palestinians.

In its decision, the court rejected an appeal to block the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar. It said that a stay would expire in a week, and the encampment could then be legally torn down. There was no date immediately announced for the demolition.

The fate of Khan al-Ahmar, just east of Jerusalem, has raised grave concerns from the United Nations, the European Union and others. Palestinian leaders have repeatedly gathered at the spot to protest the planned demolition.

Israel claims the village, an encampment of corrugated shacks outside the Kfar Adumim settlement, was illegally built and has offered to resettle residents 12 kilometers, about seven miles, away. But critics say it's impossible for Palestinians to get building permits and that the demolition is meant to make room for an Israeli settlement.

The three judges hearing the appeal said they were presented no evidence to warrant overturning the previous verdict and there was no question over the illegality of the construction on the site.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman lauded the judges for their "brave" ruling in the face of a "hypocritical" campaign directed by the Palestinians, the Israeli left and European countries.

"No one is above the law. No one can stop us from implementing our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he said.

The village is in the 60 percent of the West Bank known as Area C, which remains under exclusive Israeli control and is home to dozens of Israeli settlements. Israel places severe restrictions on Palestinian development there and home demolitions are not unusual.

In rare cases, Israel has also evicted Jewish settlers who have squatted illegally. But settlers generally have a much easier time receiving building permits, and the government often retroactively legalizes unauthorized outposts, looks the other way or offers compensation to uprooted settlers.

As part of interim peace deals in the 1990s, the West Bank was carved up into autonomous and semi-autonomous Palestinian areas, known as Areas A and B, and Area C, which is home to some 400,000 Israeli settlers.

The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and say that Area C, home to an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Palestinians, is crucial to the economic development of their future state.Israel says the structures that make up the Khan al-Ahmar encampment, which include an Italian-funded school, pose a threat to residents because of their proximity to a highway. But critics have dismissed this claim as a ploy to remove the village's 180 or so residents to clear the way for new Jewish settlements.

The tribe of previously nomadic Bedouin have lived in the area for decades after migrating from the southern Negev desert after Israel's creation in 1948, herding and grazing goats and sheep in the hills east of Jerusalem in the West Bank's narrowest part. In time, they found themselves nestled between two major Israeli settlements and developers were calling for them to be evacuated. The case has been locked in legal limbo for nearly a decade, with the court's issuing repeated stays, but Wednesday's ruling appears to remove the final obstacle.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights' office has called on Israel to abandon its plans and said the destruction of private property by an occupying power violates international law. The European Union has asked Israel to reconsider the planned demolition.

The West Bank's Arab Bedouin are a small, impoverished minority among the broader Palestinian population. Like many other Bedouin encampments, residents of Khan al-Ahmar live in corrugated shacks or tents, often without electricity or running water, and raise livestock.

The Palestinian Education Ministry recently decided to start the schoolyear early for 170 elementary students in Khan al-Ahmar and four nearby Bedouin communities to try to pre-empt any Israeli move.</s>JERUSALEM, Sept 5 — Israel’s top court cleared the way today for the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has become a focus of Palestinian protests and international concern.

The Supreme Court, in a decision released by a court spokesman, rejected petitions against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and said a temporary injunction that had put a hold on the move would lapse in a week.

Around 180 Bedouin, raising sheep and goats, live in tin and wood shacks in Khan al-Ahmar. It is outside Jerusalem between two Israeli settlements and was built without Israeli permits, which Palestinians say are impossible to obtain.

Israel said it plans to relocate the residents to an area about 12 km (seven miles) away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.

But the new site is next to a landfill, and rights advocates say that a forcible transfer of the residents would violate international law applying to occupied territory.

The European Union had publicly urged Israel to cancel the evacuation plan.

Feisal Abu Dahouk, a resident of Khan Al-Ahmar called the court’s ruling “a racist decision”, telling Reuters by telephone “there is no place we can go”.

“Khan al-Ammar will be evacuated! I congratulate the Supreme Court justices on their brave and called-for decision, in the face of the orchestrated hypocrisy of Abu Mazen (Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas), the left and European states,” Lieberman wrote on Twitter.

Ayman Odeh, head of the United Arab List in Israel’s parliament, said on Twitter the villagers had “fallen victim to the destructive policies of a rightist government that is broadening settlement blocs at the cost of Arab communities”.

Most countries consider settlements built by Israel on land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War as illegal, and an obstacle to peace. They say they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians seek for a viable state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

Israel disputes this and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the land, as well as security needs. — Reuters
Israel’s Supreme Court rejects appeals against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank whose fate has been a subject of international concern.