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Staying in the Middle East and hundreds of mourners marched through the streets of Gaza City on Saturday carrying the body of a Palestinian killed by Israeli fire. Gaza's Health Ministry says the Palestinian died during Friday's protest near the Gaza fence. Meanwhile, Israel's Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to the demolition of a Palestinian village in the West Bank. The decision is the final green light for the Israeli government to forcibly evacuate and destroy Khan al-Ahmar, which is home to around 200 Palestinians. Our correspondent Stephanie Freid has more.
Khan al-Ahmar's residents live on a desert hilltop overlooking a highway. Permits have never been granted so they aren't hooked up to water or an electric grid. The community school is made of mud and tires. 173 members of the Jahalin Bedouin tribe live here, their forebears settling the area after Israel's military evicted them from the southern desert six decades ago. They're facing eviction again. Citing military demands, in May Israel's Supreme court ordered the community be razed.
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI PLO CENTRAL COUNCIL "If Israel takes over this place that will mean the same thing could be repeated in 46 other Bedouin communities in this area."
The aim, say some legal advocates, is to replace communities with Jewish settlements, effectively dividing the West Bank in half and extinguishing hopes for a Palestinian state. As International concern grows around the demolition that's being categorized as a war crime.
NIKOLAY MLADENOV UN SPECIAL COORDINATOR ON MIDDLE EAST SITUATION "The persistent threat of demolitions and displacement of Palestinians including in Khan al Ahmar – Abu al- Helu."
Palestinian leaders are increasingly using a term synonymous with atrocities of the highest order.
MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI PLO CENTRAL COUNCIL "It's not just another act of ethnic cleansing."
STEPHANIE FREID KHAN AL-AHMAR, WEST BANK "There's no firm date for demolishing the community so people are coming here every day as a show of resistance. Despite the court's stance that it will not back down, people are still hopeful."
FRANK ROMANO, LAW PROFESSOR SORBONNE UNIVERSITY "There's something transitional here. Or you could call it pivotal. It could be the cornerstone for a rollback of the entire occupation."
The pressure on Israel to back down is mounting. The expectation is there will be violence if the bulldozers show up.