UK Middle East minister says demolition of Arab village in Israel a ‘planning matter’

Last week Middle East Minister Tobias Ellwood described Israeli threats to demolish the Arab village of Um Al-Hiran in the Negev as “a planning matter that we have raised concerns about”.

An Israeli court has issued demolition and eviction orders for the village to start on 17 March, the day of the Israeli elections. The Israeli government plans to remove the 500 villagers and their homes in order to build a Jewish village on the same site.

Speaking at Foreign Office Questions, Ellwood said that demolishing villages in the West Bank was “contrary to international law” but Um Al-Hiran and other villages inside Israel are “a different matter”.