
The Palestinian Authority (PA) cabinet on Wednesday called on Palestinian Arabs to come en masse to the illegal Bedouin outpost of Khan al-Ahmar in order to oppose any attempt to demolish the site.
In its weekly session in Ramallah, the PA cabinet condemned the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to evict the outpost and noted that it was an "illegal" decision made as part of the attempts “to try to legalize the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its policies which are based on the forcible settlement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian residents of their land and property.”
The cabinet accused Israel of pursuing its plan to isolate Jerusalem and to sever its connection to Judea and Samaria.
"The State of Israel is trying to establish facts on the ground in order to lead to the elimination of the two-state solution," it said.
Last week, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the illegal Bedouin settlement of Khan al-Ahmar will be demolished.
Khan al-Ahmar was built in the 1990s on land belonging to the Israeli town of Kfar Adumim east of Jerusalem. The encampment is home to some 170 Bedouin, who have expanded the community in recent years with the aid of foreign governments.
Israeli courts approved the outpost’s demolition, but in July the Supreme Court froze plans to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar, pending an appeal by residents.
Israeli security forces had been preparing for the planned demolition, which was set to commence just hours before the court intervened.
Last week, however, the Supreme Court ruled against the residents, rejecting their claims and clearing the way for Khan al-Ahmar’s evacuation.
The PA announced on Tuesday that it had filed a war crimes suit against Israel following the Supreme Court's decision to allow the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar.