Court defers decision on Israeli demolition of West Bank village
JERUSALEM: Israel’s top court deferred on Thursday the planned demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that has stirred Palestinian outrage and international concern.
A Supreme Court justice last week issued an 11th-hour injunction against the Khan al Akhmar demolition at the request of the villagers, who said their attempts to secure building permits had been ignored by Israeli zoning authorities.
Responding this week, the state rejected the appellants’ argument as false and as an attempt to buy time, noting that the Supreme Court had previously approved the demolition.
In Thursday’s decision, the Supreme Court justice said both sides would be summoned for a hearing by August 15. The court will set the date when it assigns a wider panel of judges. Until then the demolitions are effectively on hold.
The state said it wanted the case decided as soon as possible. Village lawyers said they were ready for the hearing.
Around 180 Bedouin, raising sheep and goats, live in tin and wood shacks in Khan al Ahmar. It is situated outside Jerusalem between two Israeli settlements. Israel said it plans to relocate the residents to an area about 12 km away, near the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.
But the new site is adjacent to a landfill, and rights advocates say that a forcible transfer of the residents would violate international law applying to occupied territory.
Most countries consider settlements built by Israel on land it captured in the 1967 Middle East War as illegal, and an obstacle to peace. They say they reduce and fragment the territory Palestinians seek for a viable state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Israel disputes this and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the land, as well as security needs.
Meanwhile, Israel summoned the EU ambassador on Thursday over allegations of interference in the passage of a controversial law which could pave the way for Jewishonly communities. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the foreign ministry to “reprimand” EU envoy Emanuele Giaufret, warning “additional steps” were planned.
The summons is tied to the so-called nation-state law, which Netanyahu wants to pass by the end of the month.
The proposed legislation would allow the state to “authorise a community composed of people having the same faith and nationality to maintain the exclusive character of that community.”
That was seen as allowing towns to exclude Arab citizens, who account for some 17.5 per cent of Israel’s population, or even other Jewish communities. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Moscow on Saturday, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Friday.