JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s top court cleared the way on Wednesday for the demolition of a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank whose fate has become a focus of Palestinian protests and international concern.

The Supreme Court, in a decision released by a court spokesman, rejected petitions against the demolition of Khan al-Ahmar and said a temporary injunction that had put a hold on the move would lapse in a week. </s> ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey’s High Election Board (YSK) ruled to hold renewed Istanbul mayoral elections on June 23, it said in a statement late on Monday.

The board ruled to annul and re-run the election due to some ballot box committees being formed against the law by district election boards, the statement showed. The YSK also ruled to file a criminal complaint against those district election board officials who had appointed the ballot box officials. </s> AMSTERDAM – The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court on Sunday called for an end to violence in the Gaza Strip, adding the Palestinian territories were subject to a preliminary examination by her office and she was monitoring events there closely.

Following the deaths of 29 Palestinians in protest clashes with Israeli forces in the past two weeks, Fatou Bensouda said in a statement “any new alleged crime committed in the context of the situation in Palestine may be subjected to my Office’s scrutiny”.

The ICC prosecutor opened a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes committed in occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in January 2015, after Palestine was officially admitted as a member of the court.

Israel is not a member of the court but if Israeli citizens commit war crimes or crimes against humanity on the territory of a member state they could fall under the ICC’s jurisdiction.

“Violence against civilians - in a situation such as the one prevailing in Gaza – could constitute crimes ... as could the use of civilian presence for the purpose of shielding military activities,” Bensouda said.

Bensouda said she would record “any instance of incitement or resort to unlawful force” by either side in the conflict.

A preliminary examination is the earliest phase of a case at the ICC. In it, the prosecutor gathers information and studies whether crimes may have been committed that reach the level of gravity required to open a formal investigation, and whether the court would have jurisdiction.

The ICC only has jurisdiction in cases where a country’s government is itself unable or unwilling to prosecute war crimes or crimes against humanity. </s> , JERUSALEM, Israel, Sept 5 – Israel’s top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, clearing the way for the demolition to go ahead despite international pressure.

The ruling means that in seven days authorities will be allowed to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which Israel says was built illegally.

“We reject the petitions” against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its decision, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings “will be cancelled in seven days from today”.

It will now be down to the authorities to decide when to carry out the demolition after the restriction order ends.

The United Nations, European Union and rights groups have opposed the razing of the village, which consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood.

They argue the move will enable Israeli settlement expansion that would cut the West Bank in two, making the prospects of a Palestinian state even dimmer.

In May, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

The court said Khan al-Ahmar residents had rejected proposals by the state regarding the site of their relocation, and expressed hope “the dialogue” would continue.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Hussein Abu Dahook, a resident of the hamlet, said the court wanted to “expel Palestinians and replace them with Israelis”.

“We are already refugees, we were expelled 70 years ago, and they want us to move again?” he said, referring to the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s foundation and forced many Arabs from their homes.

But while Israel has “guns and tanks,” residents of Khan al-Ahmar would “stay to the end,” Abu Dahook vowed.

Tawfiq Jabareen, one of the lawyers representing Khan al-Ahmar residents in the petitions, said the court “was following Israel’s right-wing government” in its ruling, which he said was “legally wrong”.

“It is not based on legal arguments and contradicts past supreme court rulings,” he told AFP. “This is unfortunately what the government wants, and the court doesn’t want to intervene.”

Jabareen said there were currently no understandings between the state and residents on a voluntary relocation.

“I’ve never seen someone who’s being expelled and whose house is being destroyed sitting idly by,” he said.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of “the coordinated attack of hypocrisy by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas), the left and European states”.

“Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state,” he said.

Khan al-Ahmar, which is east of Jerusalem, is located near several major Israeli settlements and close to a highway leading to the Dead Sea.

Diplomats from Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the European Union in July expressed their support of the village, and the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, condemned the Israeli demolition order. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Monday threatened tough action against the International Criminal Court should it try to prosecute Americans for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and said the PLO’s office in Washington would be closed for seeking to punish Israel through the court.

“The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court,” national security adviser John Bolton told the Federalist Society, a conservative group, in his first major address since joining President Donald Trump’s White House in April.

The U.S. response could include sanctions against ICC judges should such prosecutions proceed, Bolton warned.

He added that the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington was being ordered closed out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.

Bolton said he did not believe the closure of the PLO office in Washington would shut the door on a long-delayed Arab-Israeli peace plan that Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has been developing for months.

He said the plan continued to be refined with an eye toward eventually proposing it.

The Palestinians said they were undeterred from going to the ICC. They deemed the planned PLO mission closure a new pressure tactic by a Trump administration that has slashed funding to a U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and to hospitals in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as capital of a future state.

“We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying,” Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

“Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes.”

Israel welcomed the Trump administration’s move and accused the Palestinians of seeing the court as a way of sidestepping U.S.-sponsored bilateral talks. Those contacts stalled in 2014.

“The Palestinians’ resort to the ICC and refusal to negotiate with Israel and the United States is not the way to advance peace, and it is good that the United States is taking a clear stand on this matter,” said an Israeli official who requested anonymity.

‘WILL NOT COOPERATE WITH ICC’

Bolton said the Trump administration “will fight back” if the ICC proceeds with opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. service members and intelligence professionals during the war in Afghanistan.

“The ICC prosecutor has requested to investigate these Americans for alleged detainee abuse, and perhaps more - an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation,” he said.

If such an inquiry goes ahead, the Trump administration will consider banning judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, put sanctions on any funds they have in the U.S. financial system and prosecute them in American courts, Bolton said.

“We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us,” he said.

In addition, the United States may negotiate more binding, bilateral agreements to prohibit nations from surrendering Americans to The Hague-based court, Bolton said.

The court’s aim is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The United States did not ratify the Rome treaty that established the ICC in 2002, with Republican President George W. Bush opposed to the court. Bush’s Democratic successor, Barack Obama, took some steps to cooperate with it.

FILE PHOTO: The entrance of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seen in The Hague, Netherlands, March 3, 2011. REUTERS/Jerry Lampen/File Photo

Palestinians have reacted with dismay to the U.S. funding cuts, warning that they could lead to more poverty and anger - among factors stoking their decades of conflict with Israel.

Trump ordered last week that $25 million earmarked for the care of Palestinians in East Jerusalem be directed elsewhere.

“This decision will create serious cash-flow problems at the hospitals and will necessarily create delays in life-saving and other urgent treatments,” Walid Nammour, head of the network of six hospitals affected, told reporters on Monday. “Overall, the decision puts the health of 5 million Palestinians at risk.” </s> JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected a petition by the residents of a West Bank Bedouin village slated to be razed to halt the demolition.

An injunction against the plan to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, located outside of Jerusalem near Maale Adumin, expires in a week. The international community and human rights organizations have rallied in support of the village.

In their decision Wednesday, the justices also declined to delay Khan al-Ahmar’s demolition until an alternative site is found for its approximately 200 residents.

The Supreme Court had authorized the demolition in May, since the homes were built without permits. The July injunction called on the state to review a compromise offer drawn up by the locals that would legalize the village.

Critics of the demolition believe that Israel is tearing down the village in order to make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov called the impending demolition “against international law” and tweeted that it would “undermine prospect for two-state solution.” </s> Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision.

There has been strong international pressure on Israel to reverse its plans to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which the Israeli authorities say was built illegally.

"We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings "will be cancelled within seven days from today."

It will now be down to the authorities to decide when to carry out the demolition after the restriction order ends.

The present village consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is generally the case with Bedouin sites.

In May, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

The court said Khan al-Ahmar residents had rejected proposals by the state regarding the site of their relocation, and expressed hope "the dialogue" would continue.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Tawfiq Jabareen, one of the lawyers representing Khan al-Ahmar residents in the petitions, said the court "was following Israel's rightwing government" in its ruling, which he said was "legally wrong".

"It is not based on legal arguments and contradicts past supreme court rulings," he told AFP. "This is unfortunately what the government wants, and the court doesn't want to intervene."

Jabareen said there were currently no understandings between the state and residents on a voluntary relocation.

"I’ve never seen someone who’s being expelled and whose house is being destroyed sitting idly by," he said.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of "the coordinated attack of hypocrisy by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas), the left and European states."

"Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he said. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Monday threatened tough action against the International Criminal Court should it try to prosecute Americans for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and said the PLO's office in Washington would be closed for seeking to punish Israel through the court.

"The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," national security adviser John Bolton told the Federalist Society, a conservative group, in his first major address since joining President Donald Trump's White House in April.

The U.S. response could include sanctions against ICC judges should such prosecutions proceed, Bolton warned.

He added that the Palestine Liberation Organization's office in Washington was being ordered closed out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.

Bolton said he did not believe the closure of the PLO office in Washington would shut the door on a long-delayed Arab-Israeli peace plan that Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner has been developing for months.

He said the plan continued to be refined with an eye towards eventually proposing it.

The Palestinians said they were undeterred from going to the ICC. They deemed the planned PLO mission closure a new pressure tactic by a Trump administration that has slashed funding to a U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and to hospitals in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as capital of a future state.

"We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying," Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

"Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes."

Israel welcomed the Trump administration's move and accused the Palestinians of seeing the court as a way of sidestepping U.S.-sponsored bilateral talks. Those contacts stalled in 2014.

"The Palestinians' resort to the ICC and refusal to negotiate with Israel and the United States is not the way to advance peace, and it is good that the United States is taking a clear stand on this matter," said an Israeli official who requested anonymity.

'WILL NOT COOPERATE WITH ICC'

Bolton said the Trump administration "will fight back" if the ICC proceeds with opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. service members and intelligence professionals during the war in Afghanistan.

"The ICC prosecutor has requested to investigate these Americans for alleged detainee abuse, and perhaps more - an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation," he said.

If such an inquiry goes ahead, the Trump administration will consider banning judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, put sanctions on any funds they have in the U.S. financial system and prosecute them in American courts, Bolton said.

"We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us," he said.

In addition, the United States may negotiate more binding, bilateral agreements to prohibit nations from surrendering Americans to The Hague-based court, Bolton said.

The court's aim is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The United States did not ratify the Rome treaty that established the ICC in 2002, with Republican President George W. Bush opposed to the court. Bush's Democratic successor, Barack Obama, took some steps to cooperate with it.

Palestinians have reacted with dismay to the U.S. funding cuts, warning that they could lead to more poverty and anger - among factors stoking their decades of conflict with Israel.

Trump ordered last week that $25 million earmarked for the care of Palestinians in East Jerusalem be directed elsewhere.

"This decision will create serious cash-flow problems at the hospitals and will necessarily create delays in life-saving and other urgent treatments," Walid Nammour, head of the network of six hospitals affected, told reporters on Monday. "Overall, the decision puts the health of 5 million Palestinians at risk."

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. </s> JERUSALEM: Israel's top court on Wednesday (Sep 5) upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision.

There has been strong international pressure on Israel to reverse its plans to raze Khan al-Ahmar, which the Israeli authorities say was built illegally.

"We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a temporary order preventing the razing of the village during court hearings "will be cancelled within seven days from today".

The present village consists mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is generally the case with Bedouin sites.

In May, the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition after nine years of hearings before various tribunals.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits that are almost never issued to Palestinians in the large parts of the West Bank where Israel has full control over civil affairs.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who oversees the occupation of the West Bank, praised the judges for their decision in the face of "the coordinated hypocrisy attack by (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) Abu Mazen, the left and European states".

"Nobody is above the law, nobody will keep us from acting on our sovereignty and responsibility as a state," he said in a statement.
A high court in the State of Palestine suspends upcoming municipal elections.