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Palestinians attack police before evacuation of illegal Bedouin village

Palestinians threw rocks at police as preparations were made to remove an illegal Bedouin village along the Jerusalem-Jericho road. 

By: World Israel News Staff

Police said Wednesday that Palestinians threw rocks during a demonstration against the slated demolition of an illegal Bedouin village located between Jerusalem and Jericho.

The IDF and Israel Police began preparing for the dismantling of Khan al-Ahmar this week.

Palestinians said they attempted to prevent the evacuation, forming a human chain to prevent bulldozers from carrying out a Supreme Court ruling, Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

According to Israel Police, two were arrested and no injuries were reported.

A spokesman for B’tselem, a leftwing non-profit organization representing the Bedouin, told WIN that the IDF Civil Administration had commenced building an access road to enable large machinery such as bulldozers to begin the demolition.

The IDF has also blocked all access to the village by non-residents.

Here is a video of preparations for the evacuation:

On May 24, the Supreme Court ruled that the village was illegal and must be removed.

The State of Israel arranged for the residents to be resettled adjacent to Azaria, a town controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

An estimated 170 Bedouins, who receive health and education services from the Palestinian Authority and are not Israeli citizens, are opposed to the move and are backed by B’tselem and other NGOs.

Khan al-Ahmar was established in the 1990s with no authorization or building permits.  The outpost was built within the town limits of an existing Israeli community – Kfar Adumim – prompting Israeli law enforcement authorities to declare Khan al-Ahmar illegal and call for its demolition.

However, B’tselem and other organizations claim that Israel has no right to be in any part of Judea, Samaria, east Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. Therefore, they say, it has no right to expel the Bedouins.

Attempts by Israel over the years to reach a peace agreement with a Palestinian leadership have failed.