As Israel threatened to raid and demolish the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar at any moment since the evacuation period ended, Jewish settlers stormed the village and flooded the area with wastewater, on Tuesday afternoon.
Locals said that Jewish settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Adummim stormed the village, and were confronted by international and local activists along with residents of Khan Al-Ahmar.
The settlers of the settlement of Kfar Adumim drown the area of the village of #Khan_Al-Ahmar with wastewater
مستوطني مستعمرة كفار ادوميم يغرقون محيط قرية #الخان_الاحمر بالمياه العادمة pic.twitter.com/wlyOwiJrlQ— Muntaser Alrefai (@muntaser_buz) October 2, 2018
Jewish settlers managed to flood the area with wastewater before activists and residents were able to stop them.
Following the Israeli High Court’s approval for the demolition, it had granted a deadline for the residents of Khan al-Ahmar to evacuate the village until October 1st.
Time's Up for Khan al-Ahmar: Israel Can Now Legally Demolish Contested West Bank Villagehttps://t.co/fk5oQOj718 pic.twitter.com/5ibLQ2eLBU
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) October 2, 2018
Since the deadline has ended, the village is in danger of being demolished by Israeli forces at any moment, which would displace 181 people, half of whom are children.
Critics and human rights organizations argue that the demolition is part of an Israeli plan to expand the nearby illegal Jewish settlement of Kfar Adummim and to create a region of contiguous Israeli control from Jerusalem almost to the Dead Sea, which would make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.
Israel can now demolish the Palestinian-Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar any time it wants. "We are not soldiers, we don’t have tanks, we can’t stop them but we will resist and sleep under the sky if needs be. The woman and children are very scared.” https://t.co/0fOrvyxdxj pic.twitter.com/EO5YpFD3h6
— The IMEU (@theIMEU) October 2, 2018
Israel has been constantly trying to uproot Bedouin communities from the east of Jerusalem area to allow settlement expansion in the area, which would later turn the entire eastern part of the West Bank into a settlement zone.
Although international humanitarian law prohibits the demolition of the village and illegal confiscation of private property, Israeli forces continue their planned expansion by forcing evictions and violating basic human rights of the people.
(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)
