\n Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that have drawn international concern, his office said Sunday.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days,\" a statement from Netanyahu's office said about Khan al-Ahmar.\n<\/p>\n
\n But speaking later ahead of a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Netanyahu appeared to play down the latest move and insisted that the village would still be cleared eventually.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"It's our policy and it will take place,\" he said. \"I have no intention on delaying it indefinitely, but for a short, limited period.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu said the extent of the delay would be determined by the security cabinet, which was due to convene Sunday.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israeli authorities say the small village, located east of Jerusalem along a road leading to the Dead Sea, was built illegally, and had given residents until the beginning of October to leave and demolish their structures.\n<\/p>\n
\n The decision to evict the villagers followed years of legal battles and after negotiated attempts to agree on an alternative site for relocation failed.\n<\/p>\n
\n The fate of Khan al-Ahmar has drawn international concern, with European countries calling on Israel not to move ahead with plans to demolish it.\n<\/p>\n
\n Israel's supreme court on September 5 rejected a final appeal against the demolition, but following that ruling, there have been unofficial attempts to reach understandings, a lawyer representing the village's residents told AFP.\n<\/p>\n
\n \"Our offers were based on what we told the court, that we're willing to move a few hundred metres to the north,\" Tawfiq Jabareen said. \"Based on these proposals we've reached understandings.\"\n<\/p>\n
\n The government has yet to respond to the proposals, Jabereen said, refusing to divulge the identity of the person attempting to mediate between the sides.\n<\/p>\n
\n - Coalition partners angered -\n<\/p>\n
\n Netanyahu's move raised the ire of his two major coalition partners, with Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying he opposed the decision to delay the demolition.\n<\/p>\n
\n Education Minister Naftali Bennett also insisted the law must be upheld, \"even if the international community opposes and threatens\".\n<\/p>\n
\n On Wednesday, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor warned that Israel's planned \"evacuation by force\" of the village could constitute a war crime.\n<\/p>\n
\n The residents have refused to leave on their own, and Israel had been making the preparations to expel the residents and demolish the village.\n<\/p>\n
\n Khan al-Ahmar is situated in a strategic spot near Israeli settlements.\n<\/p>\n
\n There have been warnings that continued settlement building in the area would eventually divide the West Bank in two, dealing a death blow to any remaining hopes of a two-state solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frozen plans to demolish a strategically located Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank that have drawn international concern, his office said Sunday. \"The intention is to give a chance to the negotiations and the offers we received from different bodies, including in recent days,\" a statement from Netanyahu's […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-39291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-feed"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n