AFP, Jerusalem :
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that has drawn the world’s attention, his office said Sunday.
“The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said about Khan al-Ahmar.
Israeli authorities say the small village, located east of Jerusalem along a road leading to the Dead Sea, was built illegally, and had given resident until the beginning of October to evict themselves and demolish the structures.
The fate of Khan al-Ahmar has drawn international concern, with European countries calling on Israel not to move ahead with plans to demolish it.
On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned that Israel’s planned “evacuation by force” of the village could constitute a war crime.
The residents have refused to leave on their own, and Israel had been making the preparations to expel the residents and demolish the village.
The decision to evict the village followed years of legal battles and after negotiation attempts to agree on an alternative site for relocation failed.
Israel has come under heavy criticism, with major European countries urging it to avoid the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor recently said such a move could constitute a war crime.
Israeli officials said alternative solutions have arrived in recent days from various sources and Netanyahu wanted to give them a chance. That sparked criticism from Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition partners who are demanding decisive action. In response, Netanyahu clarified that the hamlet would be razed, and his delay was not open-ended.
“Khan al-Ahmar will be evacuated, it’s a court ruling, that’s our policy and it will be done,” he said. “I have no intention of postponing this until further notice, contrary to reports, but rather for a short, defined period of time.”
Netanyahu said he will convene his Cabinet on Sunday to decide the duration of the delay.
Israel says the Palestinian Bedouin encampment of corrugated shacks outside an Israeli settlement was illegally built in an unsafe location near a major highway. It has offered to resettle residents a few miles (kilometers) away in what it says are improved conditions – with connections to water, electricity and sewage treatment they currently lack. But critics say it’s impossible for Palestinians to get building permits and that the demolition plan is meant to make room for the expansion of an Israeli settlement.
Israel’s Supreme Court recently rejected a final appeal, paving the way for Khan al-Ahmar’s demolition.
