Palestinians settled before the West Bank A Bedouin village that must be shaved

Palestinian militants have set up five shipping containers near a Bedouin hamlet to protest Israel's destruction of the West Bank encampment.

Activist Abdallah Abu Rahmeh said Tuesday that the establishment of white sea containers near Khan al-Ahmar, one with a Palestinian flag, was a message to Israel: "We have the right to build on our land ".

Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem announced Saturday it had written to the European Union to ask it to intervene to prevent the demolition of the village, which should take place Wednesday.

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B'Tselem's director, Hagai El-Ad, wrote to Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, to ask him to take action on the issue.

El-Ad referred to Mogherini's earlier statements warning Israel against demolition, writing: "We have reached the point where it seems that these grave consequences need to be spelled out if the EU wants to support its own positions".

In a ruling last week, the High Court of Justice paved the way for the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, rejecting a final appeal in a case that sparked international criticism.

El-Ad wrote that "in their decision to occupy, the judges ignored the context of a completely one-sided planning regime, where" legal "construction is an option reserved for settlers and denied to protected persons.

He then asserted that the demolition was part of a plan to downplay the Palestinian presence in Area C, a portion of land accounting for 60% of the West Bank over which Israel exercises control under the DPA agreements. Oslo signed between Israel and the Palestinians. September 1995.

"The EU clearly has significant leverage to influence a concrete impact, showing Israel that unacceptable violations of human rights will have serious consequences and explain exactly what is wrong with it. he may lose, "wrote El-Ad.

"The destruction of an entire Palestinian community is the latest expression of Israel's utter disregard for the supposed common values ​​that are probably at the heart of its relations with the EU," he added.

The right-wing Israeli activists clashed with the villagers on Friday. In images taken by local Bedouins and Palestinian activists, villagers could be seen exchanging cries of anger with the Israelis of the Im Tirzu organization in a passage under Route 1 leading to the dilapidated village.

תרות פעילים של תנועת הימין "אם צרצו" באוהבר לכפרהבד הבדואי חאןואלים, שהוקם שלאוק ליד כפראדאדם. הם התעמתו עם כמה שבושבי הכפר, אך איש לא נפגע. ב"אם תרצו "אומרים כי הפעילים הגיעו למקום כדי לשמוע הרצאה. בג"ץ התיר שלשום למדינה לפנות את הכפר בעוד שבוע @carmeldangor pic.twitter.com/h8STRD20Xf

– כאן חדשות (@kann_news) September 7, 2018

Israeli police officers quickly interceded and separated the groups, leading Israeli activists out of the area.

The European Union on Thursday urged Israel to reconsider this decision, warning that it would undermine efforts to reach a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The consequences of the demolition of this community and the displacement of its inhabitants, including children, against their will, would be very serious and would seriously threaten the viability of the two-state solution and jeopardize the prospects for peace", said the EU. A declaration. "The Khan al-Ahmar community is located in a sensitive area in Area C, of ​​strategic importance to preserve the contiguity of a future Palestinian state."

"The EU is waiting for the Israeli authorities to reconsider their decision to demolish Khan al-Ahmar," the statement said.

On Tuesday, United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, also warned that the demolition of the village would have an impact on peace efforts.

Mladenov said the planned demolition of the village "would undermine the prospect of a two-state solution and would be contrary to international law".

Opponents of the demolition claim that this is part of an effort to allow the expansion of the nearby Kfar Adumim settlement, and to create an adjoining Israeli control area of ​​Jerusalem almost to the Dead Sea, according to a statement. criticism that will divide the West Bank, making it impossible to create a contiguous Palestinian state.

In its decision, which followed a request from residents of Khan al-Ahmar, the High Court declared that an order preventing the demolition of the village would be lifted in seven days, which would allow it to occur as early as the week next.

There has been strong international pressure on Israel for it to reverse its plans to raze the village, which according to Israeli authorities were illegally built. Located east of Jerusalem, the village is located near several large Israeli settlements and near a road leading to the Dead Sea.

The demolition of Khan al-Ahmar had already been approved by the court in May, as the judges noted in their decision on Wednesday.

The judges also rejected the applicants' request to delay the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar until another site was found for its residents. The villagers opposed the state's plan to transfer them to a dump in the Palestinian town of Abu Dis, as well as another proposal that would have moved them to a site in the east of the city. colony of Mitzpe Jericho.

The High Court froze the planned demolition of Khan al-Ahmar in July, when it agreed to hear the residents' petition.

Earlier this month, the state began its preparations to shave the hamlet, where no permit had been granted. Security forces were deployed in the village and construction workers began paving an access road that would facilitate demolition and evacuation.

The state says that the structures, mostly makeshift huts and tents, were built without a permit and pose a threat to the villagers because of their proximity to a highway.

But the villagers – who lived on the site and then controlled by Jordan since the 1950s, after the state expelled them from their Negev homes – say they had little choice but to build without Israeli building permit. issued to Palestinians for construction in parts of the West Bank, such as Khan Al-Ahmar, where Israel has full control over civil affairs.