DaysofPal – Palestinian officials and factions have warned of serious consequences following an Israeli decision to push forward with the evacuation of the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, east of occupied Jerusalem, after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed orders related to the displacement of its residents.
Palestinian representatives said the move forms part of a broader settlement project aimed at separating the northern and southern occupied West Bank while strengthening Israeli control over occupied Jerusalem.
Moayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, described the decision to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar as a dangerous escalation in Israel’s policy of forced displacement against Palestinians.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Shaaban said the move reflects the determination of Israel’s right-wing government to continue annexation plans, expand settlements, and impose new realities on Palestinian land through force.
He explained that the targeting of Khan al-Ahmar falls within a long-term strategic settlement project focused on the eastern Jerusalem area. According to Shaaban, Israel seeks to establish complete territorial continuity between settlements in the area, effectively separating the northern West Bank from the south and undermining the possibility of establishing a geographically contiguous and viable Palestinian state.
Shaaban added that Khan al-Ahmar has become a symbol of Palestinian steadfastness in the face of displacement policies and a visible example of the settlement nature of the Israeli project. He said this explains Israel’s repeated attempts to remove the community despite broad international opposition and repeated political, humanitarian, and legal warnings regarding the consequences of such a move.
He further noted that the International Criminal Court has previously indicated that forced displacement resulting from such measures could amount to war crimes, stressing that settlement expansion and forced transfer policies constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Shaaban warned that implementing the evacuation order could accelerate efforts to displace dozens of other Palestinian communities around Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley as part of a wider plan to reshape Palestinian geography in favor of settlement expansion.
Hamas Condemns Evacuation Orders as Ethnic Cleansing
Hamas, for its part, called Smotrich’s directives to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar and uproot its inhabitants “a new crime” carried out by the Israeli government against Palestinians in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the movement said the measures are part of broader plans aimed at geographically fragmenting the West Bank, isolating Jerusalem, and consolidating Israeli control over the city.
Hamas argued that the displacement of Palestinians and seizure of their land for the construction of thousands of settlement units, alongside a “systematic assault” on Palestinian existence in the West Bank and Jerusalem, amount to an organized campaign of ethnic cleansing being carried out in full view of the international community.
The movement called on the United Nations and international institutions to move beyond silence and work to hold Israeli leaders accountable while confronting Israel’s disregard for international law and UN resolutions that consider settlements illegal.
Hamas also said Smotrich’s escalating rhetoric and measures against the Palestinian Authority require greater Palestinian unity and the launch of a real resistance program to confront Israeli policies in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
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