Settlers Attack Bedouin Village Near Khan al-Ahmar; Residents Repel Them
Translated & summarized from Arab48 by baba
Settlers attacked a Bedouin community near Khan al-Ahmar on Sunday evening, throwing stones at residents who fought back and forced their withdrawal. The attack, originating from a settlement outpost, is part of ongoing efforts to displace Bedouin communities from the strategically important area east of Jerusalem. In May, residents objected to a plan to forcibly relocate them, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his intention to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Settlers attacked a Bedouin community near Khan al-Ahmar, throwing stones before residents repelled them.
- The attack originated from a settlement outpost and is part of ongoing efforts to displace Bedouin communities.
- Khan al-Ahmar is a strategic area targeted for settlement expansion east of Jerusalem.
- Residents formally objected in May to a plan to forcibly relocate them to an urban environment.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced in May his decision to evacuate the Khan al-Ahmar community.
Settlers attacked homes in a Bedouin community in the al-Tibneh area near Khan al-Ahmar, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, on Sunday evening. The settlers threw stones at residents before the villagers fought back and forced them to withdraw. The Jerusalem Governorate stated that the attack originated from a settlement outpost in the area and targeted the community's homes. Residents successfully repelled the settlers, compelling them to leave the site.
The Bedouin community around Khan al-Ahmar faces repeated settler assaults, including attacks on residential areas and harassment of inhabitants, as part of efforts to displace Bedouin communities from the region. Khan al-Ahmar is a strategic location east of Jerusalem on the road to Jericho, making it a target for settlement expansion.
In July, the Jerusalem Governorate reported the establishment of a new settlement outpost near the al-Muhtash Bedouin community, adjacent to Khan al-Ahmar. Settlers had erected plastic greenhouses and agricultural structures about 100 meters from the homes of al-Muhtash residents, days after extending a water pipe through the community's residential area. This escalation aimed to pressure Bedouin residents, restrict their grazing lands, and establish new settlement facts on the ground, following previous incidents where settlers cut off water to Bedouin communities east of Jerusalem six times in one month.
In May, 207 residents from Khan al-Ahmar, Arab al-Jahalin, and other Bedouin communities formally objected to plan number 1627/7, known as "Shu'fat neighborhood." They argued the plan intends to forcibly relocate them from their eastern Jerusalem areas to an urban environment unsuitable for their lifestyle.
Also in May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced at a press conference his decision to sign an order to evacuate the Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank, citing a warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Smotrich stated, "I will sign the Khan al-Ahmar evacuation order within my authority as minister in the Ministry of Defense, and I promise all our enemies that this is only the beginning."
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