Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday night granted a temporary injunction that suspended the demolition of the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin settlement.
The injunction was granted after an urgent petition was submitted by Alaa Mahajna, a lawyer representing the residents of Khan Al-Ahmar.
Khan al-Ahmar is located in Area C of the West Bank, which according to long-standing agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, including the Oslo agreements – Israel retains full responsibility for the enforcement of planning and zoning laws.
State officials have long said that the village was constructed illegally on state land, without acquiring the necessary planning permission. Officials state that the village is too close to the highway that leads from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, which has been approved for expansion and presents a safety threat to children attending the school.
In May 2018, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the village was built without the relevant building permits.
The Supreme Court had ruled in 2010 – a year after the settlement was built – that the buildings were built illegally in violation of the planning and zoning laws, and must be abolished.
The impending demolition of the village has prompted an outcry from a number of EU member states.
Diplomats from France, UK, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Ireland attempted to visit the village yesterday but were prevented from entering the areas as it had been declared a closed military zone.
The Israeli government has said that it had offered Khan al-Ahmar residents alternative plots of similar quality in a nearby area that already conforms to planning and zoning laws.
The government has stated that the new houses would improve the community’s quality of life, giving them greater accessibility to health, education, and other civil facilities and infrastructure.
In June 2018, illegal structures in the Netiv HaAvot outpost built on private Palestinian land were demolished by Israeli security forces and the Israeli settlers evacuated, following a Supreme Court ruling.
Israel on Wednesday demolished nine illegally built homes of the Bedouin village of Abu Nuwar.
