The Israeli government has requested that the Supreme Court grant it a six-month extension for the implementation of demolition orders issued against an illegal Bedouin settlement east of Jerusalem.
The State has requested that the Court give the government until the 16th of December to evacuate the illegal Bedouin settlement of Khan al-Ahmar.
The delay would give the State until after the September 17th elections and formation of the next government - likely to be completed by October or early November - to carry out the demolition.
The request was submitted in response to a Supreme Court petition by the NGO Regavim, a watchdog group which monitors illegal Arab construction in Israel.
Regavim had requested that the Court rule on the State’s failure to enforce the Court’s previous rulings.
First built in the 1990s, Khan al-Ahmar is now home to some 180 Bedouin squatters, who seized Israeli state land adjacent to the Israeli town of Kfar Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
Israeli courts have repeatedly upheld demolition orders issued against the illegal community, culminating in the Supreme Court’s final rejection of the residents’ claims in a ruling last year.
The United Nations, European Union, and International Criminal Court (ICC), on the other hand, have pressured Israel not to evacuate the illegal Bedouin settlement.
Last year, the Supreme Court ordered that Khan al-Ahmar be evacuated and demolished by no later than June 2018.
This April, Regavim submitted its petition to the Court, which called on the State to respond by the 1st of May. The State requested numerous extensions from the Court to submit its response, with a final due date of June 16th.