JERUSALEM, May 28, 2018 (WAFA) – The Israeli human rights group B‘Tselem slammed the Israeli Supreme Court justices ruling that the state may demolish the homes of the Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar, transfer the residents from their homes and relocate them, stating that such actions, which would spell ruin for the residents’ lives, constitute a war crime for which all those involved in its execution will bear personal liability.

“In so ruling, the justices chose to confine their role to handling mere bureaucratic issues, yet that is not why they were appointed to the Supreme Court,” said the center in a report.

B’Tselem maintained that choosing this technical approach enabled them to ignore the context of Israel’s longstanding policy vis-à-vis the people living in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and set aside the directives of international humanitarian law (IHL).

“ Yet this judicial formalism only thinly veils the heart of the matter: the fact that Israel intends to commit a war crime.”

“The determination that the “construction is illegal” is meaningless,” said B’Tselem.

T.R.