The High Court of Justice on Sunday granted the state can another additional extension and postponed proceedings regarding the evacuation of the illegal Arab outpost of Khan al Ahmar until July 2021.
In it seventh hearing on Khan al Ahmar following a petition submitted by the Regavim Movement, the court granted the state another extension, giving Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Gantz another seven months to report on the status of the Palestinian Authority (PA) outpost in the Adumim Region (E1).
The High Court of Justice approved the evacuation of the outpost, and this most recent petition was filed when the government failed to fulfill its commitment.
Regavim, which monitors and combats illegal Arab construction and land grabs, accused Netanyahu of “hiding behind closed-door hearings and secret communications to avoid why he was able to demolish [the Israeli communities of] Netiv HaAvot and Amona but is unable to evacuate Khan al Ahmar or to stand up to the Palestinian Authority.”
“It’s convenient for Netanyahu to hide behind closed doors and use in-camera hearings to avoid explaining to the Israeli public why he hasn’t lived up to his public pronouncements and to his commitment, reiterated countless times, to evacuate Khan al Ahmar. He owes the voters an explanation: Why was he able to evacuate Netiv HaAvot and Amona, but unable to deal with Khan al Ahmar or the Palestinian Authority?”
The Khan al Ahmar saga, more than a decade long, has been heard in multiple High Court of Justice petitions submitted by Regavim.
In 2018, the Israeli government announced its intention to complete the evacuation and relocation of the illegal outpost, the flagship of the Palestinian Authority’s systematic program of territorial dominance in Area C.
The Jahalin Bedouin, the residents of Kahn Al-Ahmar, are an offshoot of a larger tribe based in southern Israel. After a blood feud that occurred within the tribe in the 1970s, some of the families were forced out and migrated north, arriving and settling in their present location after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The location of the illegal structures is hazardous due to its proximity to Highway 1, a major transportation artery. Khan al Ahmar overlooks the road that connects Jerusalem to the south of Israel in a strategic area.
