The Israeli occupation army’s civil administration employees accompanied by policemen stormed Sunday the Jahhalin Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar scanned the area and took measurements as a prelude to demolishing it after the high court of justice had given the green light for that.
Local residents have expressed fears that Israeli soldiers with bulldozers would come at night and destroy their village.
Residents told B’Tselem a human rights group that a police officer told them they would be evacuated by force if they refused to leave willingly.
Last May 24 following a long-running legal battle Israeli judges at the high court allowed the civil administration to demolish the village’s homes and sole school at the pretext of unlicensed construction and to forcibly evacuate their residents to the village of al-Jabel an area near the Abu Dis garbage dump that the Israeli authorities have allocated for the permanent settlement of al-Jahhalin Bedouins refugees from the Negev who have lived in the area 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.
