Palestinian officials and resistance groups have issued strong warnings against a fresh Israeli escalation targeting the Bedouin community of Khan al-Ahmar, east of occupied Jerusalem, describing it as a dangerous step toward forced displacement and the erasure of Palestinian presence in the West Bank.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has signed orders advancing the evacuation of residents from Khan al-Ahmar, a move widely viewed by Palestinians as part of a broader settler-colonial project aimed at severing the northern and southern West Bank and tightening Israeli control over occupied Jerusalem.

Moayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, slammed the decision as a “dangerous escalation” in Israel’s systematic policy of forced displacement against Palestinians.

“The targeting of Khan al-Ahmar reflects the Israeli right-wing government’s determination to push annexation and settlement expansion while imposing new realities on the ground by force,” Shaaban stated. He emphasized that the community has become a powerful symbol of Palestinian steadfastness (sumud) against Israel’s uprooting policies.

According to Shaaban, the plan forms part of a long-term strategic settlement drive in the eastern Jerusalem area. By creating territorial continuity between illegal settlements, Israel seeks to fragment the occupied West Bank into isolated cantons, destroy the possibility of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state, and accelerate the annexation of Palestinian land.

Shaaban highlighted that Khan al-Ahmar’s repeated targeting persists despite widespread international opposition and clear legal warnings. The International Criminal Court has previously indicated that such forced displacements may amount to war crimes, in violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of populations in occupied territory.

He warned that carrying out the evacuation would open the door to the displacement of dozens of other Palestinian communities in the Jerusalem area and Jordan Valley, fundamentally reshaping Palestinian geography to favor Israeli settlement expansion.

Hamas: “A New Crime and Systematic Ethnic Cleansing”

Hamas strongly condemned Smotrich’s orders, labeling the planned displacement “a new crime” by the Israeli occupation government against Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

In a statement, the movement described the eviction of Khan al-Ahmar residents, combined with plans for thousands of new settlement units and a broader assault on Palestinian existence, as “systematic ethnic cleansing” being executed openly before the international community.

Hamas called on the United Nations, international institutions, and governments worldwide to end their silence, hold Israeli leaders accountable for war crimes, and enforce international law and UN resolutions that deem Israeli settlements illegal.

The group further stressed that escalating Israeli measures against the Palestinian people require enhanced national unity and the activation of a genuine resistance program to confront occupation policies across the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Khan al-Ahmar has long stood as a focal point of resistance to Israeli expansionism. Its residents, supported by international solidarity and legal advocacy, continue to defy repeated demolition threats, highlighting the resilience of Palestinians in the face of ongoing dispossession. (ILKHA)