Israel Warned That Razing Bedouin Village Could Be War Crime
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor warned Israel that the planned demolition of a Bedouin village in the West Bank may constitute a war crime.
In a statement issued hours after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip destroyed a home in Beersheba, Fatou Bensouda also warned that she is “similarly alarmed by the continued violence, perpetrated by actors on both sides, at the Gaza border with Israel.” Israel retaliated for the bombing by striking 20 Hamas targets in the coastal strip.
Israel’s Supreme Court in September rejected a petition by residents of Khan al-Amar to halt the village’s demolition. Israel says the homes there were built illegally and has offered to resettle the residents in a nearby area. Critics of the demolition believe that Israel is tearing down the village in order to make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.
The international community and human rights organizations have rallied in support of Khan al-Amar.
“It bears recalling, as a general matter, that extensive destruction of property without military necessity and population transfers in an occupied territory constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute,” Bensouda cautioned in Wednesday’s statement.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.