Israeli court paves the way for the eviction of 1,000 Palestinians

ISRAEL’S Supreme Court has upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight Palestinian hamlets in the occupied West Bank, potentially leaving at least 1,000 people homeless, an Israeli rights group representing the villagers said.

The verdict, issued late on Wednesday as Israel largely shut down for its Independence Day, marks the end of a more than two-decade legal struggle by Palestinians in the Masafer Yatta region of the southern West Bank to maintain communities they say go back decades.

“Without warning in the middle of the night, the Israeli High Court of Justice published a verdict with unprecedented consequences,” the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which has represented the residents throughout the process, said.

“The High Court has officially authorised leaving entire families, with their children and their elderly, without a roof over their heads,” it said.

Roni Pelli, a lawyer at the association, said the verdict is final and it is not clear if there are any further legal steps that can be taken. The forcible displacement of the communities could happen at any time, she said.

The military declared the area a firing and training zone in the 1980s.

Israeli authorities have argued that the residents only used the area for seasonal agriculture and had no permanent structures there at the time.

In November 1999, security forces expelled some 700 villagers and destroyed homes and cisterns, the association said. The legal battle began the following year.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court sided with the state and said the villagers had rejected a compromise that would have allowed them to enter the area at certain times and practice agriculture for part of the year.

The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The families say they have been there for decades, from long before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.

They practice a traditional form of desert agriculture and animal herding, with some living in caves for at least part of the year, but say their only homes are in the hardscrabble communities now at risk of demolition.

“The occupation court just decided: My community will be destroyed,” tweeted Basel Adra, a prominent activist from the area.

“The army can now place us on trucks, 2,400 people, and expel us from our ancient villages, one by one.”

The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule for nearly 55 years.

Meanwhile, Israeli police entered a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem to clear away Palestinian protesters after Jewish visits that had been paused for the Muslim holidays resumed.

Recent weeks have seen several rounds of clashes at the Al-aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site for Muslims, which is built on a hilltop that is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.

It lies at the heart of the Israelipalestinian conflict.

As the visits resumed, dozens of Palestinians gathered, chanting “God is greatest”. Scuffles broke out when the police went to arrest one of them.

Police fired rubber-coated bullets on the sprawling esplanade as some Palestinians sheltered inside the mosque itself. Officers could later be seen just inside an entrance to the barricaded mosque.

The force said officers responded to dozens of people who were shouting incitement and throwing stones, and that one officer suffered minor injuries.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said two

Palestinians were taken to a hospital after being hit with batons.

Unlike in previous confrontations, Palestinian witnesses said there was no sign of rock-throwing initially.

Some of those who sheltered inside the mosque began throwing stones and other objects when police entered the building. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The Islamic endowment that administers the site said police detained around 50 Palestinians.

It said around 600 Jews visited the compound. The situation was calm again by mid-morning.

Under informal arrangements known as the status quo, Jews are allowed to visit the site but not pray there.

The army can now place us on trucks, 2,400 people, and expel us from our ancient villages, one by one