OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC)
Palestinian officials and groups have warned of the consequences of a new Israeli move aimed at evacuating the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar east of Occupied Jerusalem, after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed orders related to the displacement of its residents. Palestinian officials say the move is part of a broader settlement project designed to separate the northern and southern West Bank and strengthen Israeli control over Occupied Jerusalem.
Moayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, described the decision to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar as a dangerous escalation in Israel’s policy of forced displacement against Palestinians. He said it reflects the Israeli right-wing government’s determination to push forward annexation and settlement expansion projects while imposing new realities on the ground by force.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Shaaban said the targeting of Khan al-Ahmar is part of a long-term strategic settlement plan focused on the eastern Jerusalem area. According to him, Israel aims to create full territorial continuity between settlements to divide the occupied West Bank into separate regions and undermine the possibility of a geographically connected and viable Palestinian state.
He added that Khan al-Ahmar has become a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness in the face of displacement and uprooting policies, as well as evidence of the settler-colonial nature of the Israeli project. This, he said, explains Israel’s repeated efforts to remove the community despite broad international opposition and repeated political, humanitarian, and legal warnings over the consequences of such a move.
Shaaban noted that the International Criminal Court has previously stated that forced displacement resulting from these policies may constitute a war crime, stressing that settlement expansion and forced transfer violate international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
He also warned that implementing the evacuation order could pave the way for accelerating the displacement of dozens of other Palestinian communities around Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley as part of a wider effort to reshape Palestinian geography in favor of settlement expansion.
For its part, Hamas described Smotrich’s decision to order the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar and displace its residents as “a new crime” committed by the Israeli government against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
In a statement, the Movement said the displacement of Palestinians and seizure of their land for the construction of thousands of settlement units, alongside what it described as a “systematic assault” on Palestinian existence in the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem, amounts to “systematic ethnic cleansing” being carried out in full view of the world without serious international action to stop it or hold those responsible accountable.
Hamas called on the international community, the United Nations, and international institutions to break their silence and take steps to hold Israeli leaders accountable while ending Israel’s disregard for international law and UN resolutions that consider settlements illegal.
The Movement also said Smotrich’s threats and escalating measures against the Palestinian Authority require greater Palestinian unity and the launch of a “real resistance program” to confront Israeli policies in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
