Israel army arrests three Palestinians, French activist

JERUSALEM

The Israeli army on Friday arrested three Palestinians and a French solidarity activist during a demonstration held to protest an Israeli court decision to demolish a Bedouin village.

According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent, Israeli troops assaulted dozens of activists and local residents near the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in occupied East Jerusalem.

During the melee, three Palestinians and a French solidarity activist were detained by the Israeli authorities.

Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled to demolish Khan al-Ahmar and evict its Bedouin inhabitants.

Israel hopes to expel 10,000 Bedouin residents of the E1 Zone, which sits on 15 square kilometers of land in East Jerusalem, to make way for a series of Jewish-only housing units linking Jerusalem to the Maale Adumim settlement.

If implemented, the plan would effectively cut the West Bank in two, preempting the possibility of a Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.

Reporting by Qais Abu Samra; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat