Palestinians protest against Israeli plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar village

Palestinians have protested in Khan al-Ahmar against an Israeli plan to evacuate the Bedouin village, which lies in the occupied West Bank near al-Quds, with the aim of constructing new settlements.

“We came here to challenge Ben-Gvir’s decision and the decisions of all of the right-wing government,” Palestinian activist Khairy Hanoun, who was at the protest on Monday, said, in reference to far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who vowed to push ahead with the village’s forced evacuation.

“We came here to tell them, you demolished our villages, you demolished our cities and our homes, but you will not demolish our perseverance,” he told Al Jazeera. Palestinians will keep rebuilding it, even if the Israelis “demolish it 100 times,” he said.

Meanwhile, Eid Jahalin, who described himself as a spokesperson for the village, told the TV network the Israeli practice of demolitions is "constantly happening across all of Palestine."

He underscored the importance of the village as it lies near a highway that connects East al-Quds to the Jordan Valley where Israel aims to expand and link settlements, effectively cutting the West Bank into two. “Our main message is to the Palestinian leadership: … If this village is uprooted. we will have the northern West Bank and the southern West Bank,” Jahalin said.

Israeli regime routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the West Bank and East al-Quds, claiming the structures have been built without the so-called Israeli permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses themselves or pay the costs of the demolition if they do not.

MG