Smotrich orders Khan al-Ahmar evacuation after ICC arrest warrant claim

Bezalel Smotrich ordered the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar on Monday after saying he had been told the International Criminal Court prosecutor had sought a secret arrest warrant against him, turning a long-running land dispute into an overt act of retaliation. Smotrich, who serves as finance minister and also holds authority in the defense ministry, tied the move directly to the reported ICC request.

The prosecutor’s office declined to comment and cited confidentiality. The claim, if accurate, would add a new layer to the court’s scrutiny of Israeli officials after it issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over conduct in the Gaza war.

Khan al-Ahmar sits in Area C of the occupied West Bank, east of Jerusalem, on a strategically sensitive corridor near Ma’ale Adumim and Highway 1. The Bedouin community has been under threat of demolition or relocation for years. Its population is roughly 173 to 200 residents, including about 92 children, and its school serves more than 150 children from the village and neighboring communities.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly sought to clear the site. In 2023, the Supreme Court of Israel allowed an indefinite delay to an earlier demolition order, citing security and diplomatic concerns. Palestinian rights groups say the village is one of the clearest examples of how Palestinians in Area C face permit rules that make lawful construction nearly impossible, while Israeli settlement growth continues to reshape the landscape around Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials said the new order crossed a line. Wasel Abu Youssef called the evacuation decision “very dangerous” and said a firm international response was needed to stop further crimes. His warning underscored how the legal dispute around Khan al-Ahmar has become inseparable from the politics of displacement in the West Bank.

Smotrich’s move also came against a backdrop of growing international pressure. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom sanctioned Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir in June 2025, accusing them of inciting extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The governments said their rhetoric encouraged forced displacement and settlement expansion, language that now hangs over the Khan al-Ahmar order as both a legal and political flashpoint.