Palestinians in Khan Al-Ahmar fear displacement amid Israeli settlement expansion plans
LONDON: Palestinian residents of the Bedouin community of Khan Al-Ahmar in the occupied West Bank say that they fear imminent displacement after Israeli authorities moved to revive demolition orders against the village.
The development comes ahead of a planned June 1 tender process for the construction of 3,400 settlement units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, a move critics say would further fragment Palestinian territory and isolate East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
The E1 corridor links Jerusalem with the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc and has long been viewed by Palestinians and many international governments as a highly sensitive area because of its implications for the viability of a future Palestinian state.
Khan Al-Ahmar is one of 18 Bedouin and herding communities located in the path of the proposed expansion plan, with about 4,000 Palestinians potentially at risk of displacement.
