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Italy calls on Israel not to demolish Bedouin village in Jerusalem

June 6, 2018 at 12:34 pm

A Palestinian woman inspects the debris after Israeli authorities ordered the demolition of her home in the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar [Hamza Shalash/Apaimages]

The Italian foreign ministry has called on Israeli occupation authorities not to demolish a Bedouin village and an Italian-funded school in eastern Jerusalem, expressing concern that such a step threatens the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday that it is “following with great concern the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and the risk of the imminent demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar” as well as the Rubber Tyre School, which is “financed by the Italian cooperation service and attended by 160 students from five different communities.”

Khan Al-Ahmar is located in the E1 Zone between Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim.

READ: UN calls on Israel to stop expelling Jerusalem’s Bedouins 

“The demolition of the village would undermine the construction of a prospective adjacent Palestinian State and the subsequent two-state solution,” read the official statement.

“It is for this reason, as well as for humanitarian reasons and to comply with international law, that the Italian Foreign Ministry relaunches the request that has often been addressed to Israeli Authorities not to proceed to implement the aforesaid provisions,” it added.

The Italian ministry criticised Israel’s approval of the construction of 3,000 housing units in the occupied West Bank and described the Israeli settler expansion policy as a “violation of international law”.

READ: Israel demolishes Negev village of Al-Araqeeb for 127th time 

Last month the Israeli Supreme Court gave Israeli authorities the green light to demolish Khan Al-Ahmar.

Amnesty International described the ruling as “outrageous”.

Amnesty’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi, said:

Going ahead with the demolition is not only cruel, it would also amount to forcible transfer, which is a war crime.