The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) is monitoring, with extreme concern and gravity, the escalation of Israeli plans to demolish the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, east of occupied Jerusalem, and to forcibly displace its residents—families from the "Jahalin" tribe who have lived in the area for decades following their initial displacement from the Negev in 1948.
The Israeli government’s insistence on executing the demolition and displacement order against this strategic community represents the apex of ethnic cleansing policies and settlement expansion. This objective aims to completely isolate occupied Jerusalem from its Palestinian extension in the eastern West Bank and to implement the so-called "Greater Jerusalem" project through the dangerous (E1) settlement plan, which definitively undermines any prospect for the establishment of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.
On May 19, 2026, the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, announced in a press conference the adoption of immediate measures, most notably the signing of an evacuation order for Khan al-Ahmar and issuing instructions to the "Civil Administration" to prepare for the immediate execution of the decision.
(witness) affirms that these settlement schemes and demolition attempts constitute a flagrant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (adopted on December 23, 2016), which confirmed by an overwhelming majority that Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation under international law.
Furthermore, (witness) asserts that the systematic forcible transfer of protected civilians under occupation, and the destruction of their property and educational institutions—such as the "tire school," the only one in the area—constitutes a direct violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. This act is classified as a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
(witness) emphasizes that decisions issued by the Israeli Supreme Court do not alter the legal reality; established principles of international law and the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) dictate that the courts of an Occupying Power have no legitimate jurisdiction to legalize settlement activity or the demolition of indigenous residential communities in occupied territories.
Based on the above, the Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness) demands the following:
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International Community and High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions: Move beyond verbal condemnation to adopt tangible, punitive, and deterrent measures that prevent the occupation authorities from executing this crime of forcible transfer, and compel them to comply with UN Resolution 2334.
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ICC Prosecutor: Include the Khan al-Ahmar demolition file, first issued in 2018 and currently being reactivated, as an urgent and effective line of investigation within the ongoing probe into the Situation in Palestine, recognizing it as a continuing crime.
Palestinian Association for Human Rights (witness)