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ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-CONFLICT-WESTBANK
Israel gives Bedouin villagers until end of month to leave
JERUSALEM, Sept 23, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Israeli authorities issued a notice to
residents of a Bedouin village in a strategic spot in the occupied West Bank
on Sunday informing them they have until the end of the month to leave.
The fate of Khan al-Ahmar has drawn international concern, with European
countries calling on Israel not to move ahead with plans to demolish it.
Israel’s supreme court on September 5 rejected appeals against demolition,
allowing authorities to move ahead.
Israel says the village was built without the proper permits, though it is
extremely difficult for Palestinians to receive such permission in that part
of the West Bank.
The notice given to the some 200 residents of Khan al-Ahmar on Sunday says
they have until the end of the month to demolish the village themselves.
“Pursuant to a supreme court ruling, residents of Khan al-Ahmar received a
notice today requiring them to demolish all the structures on the site by
October 1st, 2018,” a statement from the Israeli defence ministry unit that
oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank said.
It did not say what will happen if they refuse to do so. Village residents
vowed not to leave despite the notice.
“No one will leave. We will have to be expelled by force,” said village
spokesman Eid Abu Khamis, adding that a residents’ meeting would be held
later on the issue.
“If the Israeli army comes to demolish, it will only be by force.”
The village is located in a strategic spot east of Jerusalem, near Israeli
settlements and along a road leading to the Dead Sea.
There have been warnings that continued settlement building in the area
would eventually divide the West Bank in two, dealing a death blow to any
remaining hopes of a two-state solution.
Israeli authorities have offered alternative sites for Khan al-Ahmar
residents, but villagers say the first was near a rubbish dump and the latest
close to a sewage treatment plant.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1430 hrs