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. "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." 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. 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. 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. 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".
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.