European countries warn against demolishing West Bank hamlet

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September 10 2018 02:29 AM

European countries warn against demolishing West Bank hamlet | iNFOnews.ca — FILE - In this July 16, 2018 file photo, a Palestinian sits outside her school, in the West Bank Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar. Major European countries issued a rare joint statement warning Israel against its planned demolition of the Bedouin encampment in the West Bank. France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom said Monday, Sept. 10, 2018, that its strategic location is important to maintain "contiguity of a future Palestinian state." Arabic reads "Jerusalem is ours, my beautiful school." (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

Original Publication Date: September 10, 2018 2:29AM

Publication Updated: April 22, 2025 12:51PM

JERUSALEM – Major European countries have issued a rare joint statement warning Israel against its planned demolition of a Bedouin encampment in the West Bank.

France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom said on Monday its strategic location is important to maintain “contiguity of a future Palestinian state.”

“The consequences a demolition and displacement would have on the residents … as well as on the prospects of the two-state solution would be very serious,” their statement said.

Israel says Khan al-Ahmar, an encampment of corrugated shacks east of Jerusalem, was illegally built and has offered to resettle residents 12 kilometres (7 miles) away. Critics say its removal is meant to make room for an Israeli settlement.

Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal last week and the hamlet is expected to be demolished soon.