I have recently been contacted by
constituents who are concerned about the demolition of the West Bank village of
Khan al-Ahmar and would like to invite me to attend a briefing event in
Parliament on this issue.
They informed me that Israel’s High
Court has recently approved the demolition and eviction of the entire West Bank
village of Khan al-Ahmar, and that Palestinians had submitted three petitions
to save the West Bank village - home to some 180 civilians - all of which have
been rejected.
The Israeli authorities has argued that
the herding village was illegally built on state land and must be moved. The
High Court of Justice has upheld the state of Israel’s right to move the
herding village, but has also expressed concerns that a viable relocation
option has not been proposed. In response, authorities have drawn up plans to
relocate inhabitants of the Khan al-Ahmar to nearby locations in the West Bank.
These plans have recently been rejected by the inhabitants, who are threatening
to respond with violence to any attempt to demolish the village.
I share my constituents’ concerns about
the situation in Khan al-Ahmar and would like to see both sides take swift
action to de-escalate tensions and reach a peaceful resolution. On this
occasion I regret to inform them I will not be able to attend the briefing
event due to other parliamentary commitments happening at the same time as the
event. I would like to thank my constituents for drawing my attention to this
issue and assure them that I will continue to monitor the situation in Khan
al-Ahmar closely.
