Israel bars diplomats from visiting Bedouin Palestinian village slated for demolition

International condemnation growing over move to bulldoze Khan al-Ahmar in occupied West Bank, with at least 35 protesters injured

Anger at an Israeli decision to demolish a Bedouin village in the West Bank is growing among both Palestinians and the international community.

A group of European diplomats attempted to visit a school in Khan al-Ahmar on Thursday but were blocked by Israeli authorities which declared it a military zone after protests the day before.

A total of 35 people were injured, and 11 arrested for throwing stones, on Wednesday after the military left a land confiscation notice and moved in three bulldozers, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Palestinians ride on an Israeli bulldozer in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank (Reuters) (REUTERS)

Videos posted to social media showed Israeli troops dragging villagers with Palestinian flags off the machines and away from the site.

“I was born here and will not move anywhere else,” 45-year-old Feisal Abu Dahok said. “If they destroy the village, we will build it again here or nearby.”

On Thursday, the office of Nikolay Mladenov, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, added his concerns to British, French and Irish calls for the demolition to be halted, claiming it was against international law.

The village, located between two Israeli settlements, has been a flashpoint for tensions surrounding building in the occupied West Bank for over a decade.

It is believed a road linking the two settlements is to be built in its place, and Khan al-Ahmar’s community is to be moved to a new site seven miles away, next to a landfill serving the Palestinian village of Abu Dis.

The Israeli high court approved Khan al-Ahmar’s demolition in May, overturning an injunction protecting the community and upholding an earlier ruling that the village was built without proper planning permission.

Critics of Israeli policy point out that building permissions for new Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank are almost impossible to obtain.

Around 180 Bedouin are thought to live in basic wooden and tin houses in Khan al-Ahmar, tending to sheep and goats, while 170 children in the surrounding area use its school.

“School will be far away because we will be living on the mountain, and we will have to walk really far to get there. There is no one there, no friends, nobody, and it will be hard on us,“ 15-year-old Nabil told Save the Children.

UK representatives were among the group barred from the village on Thursday, a move criticised by Alistair Burt, minister of state for the Middle East, in parliament.

“This morning, officials from our embassy in Tel Aviv and from our consulate general in Jerusalem visited Khan al-Ahmar to express our concern and demonstrate the international community’s support for that community,” he told MPs.

“In accordance with our longstanding policy, we condemn such a move, which would strike a major blow to prospects for a two state solution with Jerusalem as a shared capital.”

Israel annexed large parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967, a move that has never been recognised under international law.

Settlement building on occupied Palestinian land is one of the major stumbling blocks towards a two state solution in the intractable Arab-Israeli conflict.

The number of settlements has risen year on year, but the UN reported a 70 per cent increase in unit building during 2016-2017.

Four Palestinian schools have been demolished in 2018 so far – more than the total number demolished last year, Save the Children said.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, the body which implements Israeli policy in Palestinian areas, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.