Israeli PM postpones demolition of West Bank Bedouin village

JERUSALEM, Oct. 21  — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he had decided to postpone the planned demolition of the West Bank Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar.
The decision was made to allow time to find an agreed solution with its residents, said a statement released by Netanyahu’s office, which was issued following international criticism over Israel’s plan to demolish the Bedouin community.
“Khan al-Ahmar will be evacuated, this is a court decision. This is our policy and it will also be implemented,” Netanyahu said in the statement.
“I have no intention of postponing this until further notice, but for a short, short time,” he added.
The move was widely interpreted as a response to international condemnation, especially by European countries.
On Sept. 5, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition by Khan al-Ahmar residents against the demolition order and the forcible eviction they are facing.
Since then, Palestinians declared that there will be no new appeal to Israeli courts, but, instead, they will pursue Israel at international courts if the village is demolished.
The community is resided by 200 Palestinian Bedouins, 95 percent of whom are refugees registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Dozens of tin-ceiling homes and basic structures are slated for demolition in the area, which suffers a lack of basic services and infrastructure, such as an electricity network, a sewage system and proper roads.
The community includes the only school for the Bedouin communities in the area, a mosque and a healthcare unit, as well as homes that are all at risk of demolition by Israel. Residents say they are offered no alternative to stay.
The community in Khan Al-Ahmar is one of the 46 Bedouin communities in areas classified as area (C) in the West Bank.
Under the interim Oslo Accords signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in 1993, the West Bank is divided into three zones: A, B and C, with area (A) being under Palestinian control, (B) under Israeli security coordination and Palestinian administrative control and (C) under full Israeli control. – XINHUA