The illegal Bedouin village of Khan Al-Ahmar is expanding and new structures are being added to the existing ones strategically situated on Highway 1, despite several court orders to have the squatters removed.
The Regavim Movement, which has been waging a legal battle for the removal of the illegal outpost, published photos showing that the village is continuing to develop at other sites along Highway 1, as the Arabs take control of more swaths of land without interference from the government or law enforcement agencies.
One photo shows a new structure was erected in Khan Al Ahmar last month on a commanding hilltop. Like the rest of the village, it is located in Area C on state lands and sits within the jurisdiction of Kfar Adumim.
Area C in Judea and Samaria is under full Israeli control, as per the 1995 Oslo Accords.
The Khan al Ahmar saga, more than a decade long, has been heard in multiple High Court of Justice petitions submitted by Regavim, which combats illegal land grabs by the Palestinian Authority.
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, but has since repeatedly postponed the court-ordered action, claiming there are “diplomatic considerations” in play.
The Jahalin Bedouin, the residents of Kahn Al-Ahmar, are an offshoot of a larger tribe based in southern Israel. After a blood feud in the tribe in the 1970s, some of the families were forced out and migrated north, 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.
The Regavim movement has revealed data on the frightening scope of the PA’s takeover of Israeli land in Area C, including the extent of illegal Arab construction in the area.
Between the years 2019-2021, the Arabs built 5,097 new illegal structures in areas under full Israeli control. This means that every day, about seven new illegal structures were added to the area. The total number of illegal Arab structures in Area C is 72,274.
At the same time, a PA-guided agricultural takeover of 1,761 acres of land under Israeli control was recorded during these two years, reaching a total of 23,000 acres, meaning that Israel is rapidly losing lands in Area C to illegal construction projects executed by the PA.
While consecutive Israeli governments have declared war on the phenomenon, none have taken concrete and effective action to remedy the violations.
In 2009, then-prime minister of the PA Salaam Fayyad laid out the Plan for the Creation of the State of Palestine, a methodical program for seizing control of territory in Area C to form a broad and viable basis for a Palestinian state, specifically in the areas under Israeli control.
Fayyad’s plan essentially bypasses all negotiations or compromises with Israel and creates facts on the ground.
Yehuda Noam, area coordinator for the Regavim movement, explains that the area in question is the “last bastion blocking the Palestinian Authority’s vision of establishing a state of terror in the heart of the State of Israel.”
He warned that “in reality, there is no vacuum: when the state is not there, the Palestinian Authority works to erect buildings and create facts on the ground and at the same time create massive international pressure.” He called on the Israeli government “to act before it’s too late.”
