Qais Abu Samra
10 June 2026•Update: 10 June 2026
Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin called Wednesday on the international community to take practical steps to stop illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and displacement targeting Palestinians.
Her appeal came during a field visit to the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community east of occupied East Jerusalem. She was accompanied by members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of international organizations, including Consul General of Türkiye Ismail Cobanoglu, as well as a Palestinian ministerial delegation.
“Israel understands only the language of action on the ground and the international community must therefore take practical measures,” Shahin told Anadolu.
“Our message is clear. There is international law, and everyone knows the violations the Palestinian people are facing daily,” she said.
The minister called for “a united international stand that says enough to this occupation through measures taken on the ground.”
Shahin said some countries have taken steps against Israel, adding that these measures were still “insufficient.”
She pointed to escalating occupier attacks on Bedouin communities and Palestinian land, stressing that the Palestinian people are “steadfast on their land, holding on to it and will not leave it.”
“We accepted Israel on 77% of our historic land, and today the time has come to achieve our Palestinian state on 22% of historic Palestine,” she said.
The visit to Khan al-Ahmar came amid growing fears that Israel will implement plans to evacuate the Bedouin community, which is home to about 350 Palestinians from the Jahalin tribe, spread across 42 families. Residents rely mainly on sheep herding and live in tin structures and tents.
Israeli authorities have tried several times since 2018 to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, but backed down under international pressure, including from the US administration, which warned of the evacuation on the two-state solution. The pressure led to the decision being frozen but not canceled.
Israel has for years sought to implement a major settlement project known as E1 in the area , which aims to link the Maale Adumim settlement with East Jerusalem. Palestinians say the project would isolate the occupied city from its Palestinian surroundings and cut up the West Bank.
Last month, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a position in the Defense Ministry, ordered the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar following an arrest warrant issued for him by the International Criminal Court.
Israel’s Supreme Court has previously given the green light to demolish and evacuate the community ahead of carrying out the E1 settlement project in the area.
Since the signing of the Oslo II Accord in 1995, Israel has used the classification of large areas of the West Bank as Area C, under its security and administrative control, to intensify demolitions of Bedouin communities and displace their residents.
Israel claims these communities “pose a security threat” to nearby settlements, while Palestinians say the displacement is part of a policy aimed at expanding illegal settlements and imposing new facts on the ground, undermining the chances of establishing an independent, geographically contiguous Palestinian state.
*Writing by Lina Altawell in Istanbul
