The Israeli occupation army’s civil administration has given the Palestinian residents of Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community south of Jerusalem until next Friday to leave the area as a prelude to demolishing it and establishing a settlement for Jewish settlers in its place.
This came after the Israeli army on Tuesday night encircled the community and declared it a closed military zone.
According to Walid Assaf head of the popular committee to resist Israel’s separation wall and settlement activities said that Israeli troops stormed Khan al-Ahmar hamlet and notified residents of a military decision to close roads inside and around their community.
The Israeli authorities decided to seize the land where the community is located and displace its residents although the land is registered as owned by Palestinian citizens from the nearby town of Anata according to the news website Arab48.
Last May 24 following a long-running legal battle Israeli judges at the high court allowed the civil administration to go ahead with the demolition of the community’s homes and sole school at the pretext of unlicensed construction and to forcibly evacuate their residents to an area near the Abu Dis garbage dump.
The residents of Khan al-Ahmar known as al-Jahhalin Bedouins are refugees from the Negev desert who have lived in this area of south Jerusalem since their displacement by the Israeli army in 1967.
Throughout the years Israel has refused to recognize al-Jahhalin Bedouin communities or grant them building permits.
