Israeli minister orders West Bank hamlet evicted after hearing he may face arrest warrant overseas

A Bedouin shepherd leads her goats at the hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File)

2026-05-19T14:37:39Z

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s finance minister has ordered the eviction of a Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that has long been a target of Israeli authorities, saying the measure is a response to reports that he may be a target of international war crimes prosecutors.

It was not clear whether the International Criminal Court is mulling an arrest warrant for the minister, Bezalel Smotrich. The Hague court said it keeps requests and plans for warrants confidential.

But the ICC already has issued arrest warrants for other Israeli figures, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to face war crimes charges connected to Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip. Israel does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction but the warrants could make international travel difficult.

Smotrich, who heads a far-right religious party and has led an aggressive expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, did not say whether he had been formally informed by the court of the warrant or whether he was merely responding to media reports. Nevertheless, he said attempts to arrest him marked a “declaration of war.”

“From today, any economic or other target that I have the power to harm within the framework of my powers as Minister of Finance and as a minister in the Ministry Defense will be attacked,” he said.

He said his first target would be Khan Al-Ahmar, a village of Palestinian Bedouins long caught up in a legal battle to remain on their land. Smotrich, who oversees West Bank settlement policy, signed a directive calling for the immediate evacuation of the village.

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It was not clear if the order could be legally challenged and when it would take effect. Israeli media reported that the order still requires approval by Israel’s security cabinet. But past attempts to empty the village and relocate its inhabitants have been challenged in court. An anti-settlement watchdog group, Peace Now, said that demolition of village structures could take place within weeks.

“Minister Smotrich seeks to take revenge on The Hague and the international community at the expense of one of the most vulnerable communities, which for years has struggled simply for the right to live on the small piece of land in its possession,” Peace Now said. It called the destruction of the village “part of a broader government plan to take control of the entire central West Bank area” and remove Palestinians from the area.

Khan Al-Ahmar lost its legal protection in 2018 when the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal to block its demolition, sparking massive international outcry.

Israel says that the hamlet, home to nearly 200 Palestinians and an EU-funded school, was built illegally on state land. But critics say it is nearly impossible to get a construction permit from Israel, and that the village’s demolition and the removal of its residents is a ploy to clear the way for new Jewish settlements.

The village lies in a tract of land where Israel’s government is establishing a new settlement bloc called E1, a project that is particularly controversial because Palestinians and rights groups say its strategic location would make it virtually impossible to establish a viable and contiguous Palestinian state.

Israel has already published a tender for the development of the area.

Smotrich was sanctioned by Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Norway in June 2025, along with Israel’s hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, for “inciting extremist violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank.

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AP writer Molly Quell contributed reporting from The Hague.

JULIA FRANKEL Frankel, based in Jerusalem, has reported from across Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Her reporting focuses on war, human rights, displacement and criminal justice. twitter mailto