Israel’s Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the demolition of a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, a lawyer for residents said on Friday.

The temporary injunction issued on Thursday night stops the Israeli authorities razing Khan al Ahmar until at least July 11 to give the state time to respond, attorney Shlomo Lecker said. 

It follows a new petition by residents who submitted a planning application to rebuild the village at its present location.

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. In May the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition.

Under the 1995 Oslo agreement between Israel and Palestine, the West Bank was divided into A, B and C zones. The administrative and security authority of area A was given to Palestine while the administration of area B was given to Palestine but its security to Israel, while in area C, both administration and security authority went to Israel.Khan al Ahmar is located in area C.

Meanwhile, the 700-person strong Bedouin community in Abu Nuwar village, also located in area C, has refused to leave despite continuous threats and pressure from the Israeli authorities.

Israel bars diplomats from visiting Bedouin

Diplomats from Belgium, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the European Union tried  on Thursday to visit the school at Khan al Ahmar, which is funded by several European countries, but they were turned back at the village entrance.

The Consul General of France in Jerusalem, Pierre Cochard, told journalists at the scene that demolishing the village of 173 residents would be a violation of the Geneva convention which lays out the obligations of an occupying power toward those under its control.

It would also significantly complicate the search for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he added.

Late on Thursday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry "strongly" condemned the Israeli army’s demolition of Palestinian Bedouin homes in Abu Nuwar.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry also condemned "the start of preparations for demolitions in the Bedouin region of Khan Al-Ahmar in the occupied Palestinian territories".

"These acts carried out by the Israeli authorities with impunity jeopardise the contiguous and independent Palestinian State perspective," it said.

The ministry urged Israel to end "its illegal activities which exacerbate tensions in the region and undermine the two-state solution vision."

Closed military zone

Police said the area had been declared a closed military zone.

The army had said on Thursday that the process of enforcing eviction and demolition orders was under way, but did give a date when the buildings would be razed.

The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, has condemned the move.

“These demolitions are particularly outrageous because they target communities who already live in extremely difficult conditions, with high levels of humanitarian needs,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

Khan al Ahmar is located near several major Israeli settlements and close to a highway leading to the Dead Sea.

It is made up mainly of makeshift structures of tin and wood, as is generally the case with Bedouin villages in the region.

Activists are concerned that continued Israeli settlement construction in the area could effectively divide the West Bank in two.