Israel Demolishes Protest Shacks Built by Palestinian Activists Near Khan al-Ahmar

Israel security forces demolished five shacks built near Khan al-Ahmar by Palestinian activists early Thursady morning. The demolished structures were all set up in the past few days and housed activists outside the village. Local Bedouins were not residing in the structures that were demolished.

The shacks were built between Khan al-Ahmar and the nearby settlement of Kfar Adumim. An offical said that the structures were erected by "representatives from the Palestinian Authority in protest and defiance against the High Court decision and against the enforcement of Israeli law in Area C." They further stressed that it was not the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar, but only the structures temporarily built.

The village, which was built on state-owned land without construction permits, is slated for demolition after the High Court of Justice rejected a petition by residents last week challenging their eviction.

Palestine Liberation Organization Secretary General Saeb Erekat said Tuesday that the Palestinians have approached the International Criminal Court in The Hague seeking to launch legal proceedings against Israel over the plans to evacuate the village. The Israeli government has proposed relocating the villagers to a permanent site at Al-Eizariya, near the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, located between a garbage dump and an auto junkyard.

The Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar is located near Route 1 is home to several dozen families from the Jahalin tribe. The tribe originated in the Negev and was expelled to the West Bank in the 1950s. According to aerial photographs and testimonies of the residents of the village, the residents wandered after their expulsion from the Negev to the Jerusalem-Jericho area, in what is now Gush Adumim.