Haaretz newspaper on Wednesday reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had decided to delay the demolition of Susya village south of al-Khalil due to “political and security considerations”.
Two sources confirmed to Haaretz that the demolition was scheduled to take place this week.
The Palestinian residents of Susya and al-Khan al-Ahmar villages in al-Khalil and Jerusalem respectively are about to face a mass deportation operation. Both villages have dozens of mobile homes mostly tents or tin houses as a result of repeated demolitions.
Officials from Israel’s War Ministry previously revealed that the demolition would take place in mid-2018 but Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently said that the Israeli National Security Council had requested a postponement of the demolition.
The demolition may have been postponed due to the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump’s special advisor Jared Kushner this weekend.
There is a widespread international and diplomatic interest in the two Palestinian villages which had been visited by many representatives of European governments.
