Israeli human rights center B’Tselem on Tuesday said that the Israeli army’s demolition of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank is a new war crime.
The human rights center in a statement held the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of the implementation of the demolition plan targeting Susiya village to the south of al-Khalil and Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community to the northeast of Jerusalem.
The statement revealed that the center sent strongly-worded letters to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and war minister Avigdor Lieberman following the latter’s statements in which he said that his ministry is preparing to evacuate the two Palestinian villages which are according to his allegation built in Area C without licenses.
B’Tselem affirmed that the demolition of entire Palestinian communities in the West Bank is an unprecedented policy that has not been witnessed since 1967 adding that based on the Fourth Geneva Convention forced displacement of civilians in an occupied territory is considered a war crime.
Around 32 Palestinian families live in Susiya village which the Israeli occupation authorities aim to demolish to link Susiya settlement with two settlement outposts to the north of it.
Khan al-Ahmar is located to the east of Jerusalem and is home to 21 families. The Israeli authorities plan to uproot the Palestinian community there in order to expand the nearby settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.
The Israeli authorities refuse to provide the Palestinians living in these villages with infrastructure services and constantly threaten to demolish their homes.
