Smotrich Announces Evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar
The announcement followed reports that the ICC was examining additional Israeli political and military officials over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity involving Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tuesday that he signed an order to evacuate the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar in Judea and Samaria, after saying he had been informed that the International Criminal Court prosecutor had submitted a secret request for an arrest warrant against him.
The ICC had not publicly confirmed any new warrant request by Tuesday evening. Earlier, the court denied reports that it had issued new arrest warrants against Smotrich, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir or other Israeli officials.
Speaking at a press conference, Smotrich said he had been told Monday night that the chief prosecutor of what he called the “antisemitic court” in The Hague had sought an international arrest warrant against him. He called the move a “declaration of war” and said Israel would respond accordingly.
“I will immediately sign an order to evacuate Khan al-Ahmar,” Smotrich said. He later published the signed order.
He said the move was “only the beginning” and accused the ICC of acting as the “voice of the Palestinian Authority.”
The announcement followed reports that the ICC was examining additional Israeli political and military officials over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity involving Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria.
Smotrich said the ICC’s previous warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, along with any warrant against him, amounted to an attack on Israel’s elected leadership.
“Against a declaration of war, we will respond with war,” Smotrich said. “I am not a submissive Jew. The Palestinian Authority started a war, and it will receive war.”
He said the arrest warrant threat would not deter him from carrying out government policy.
“As a sovereign and independent state, we will not accept hypocritical dictates from biased bodies that consistently stand against the State of Israel, against our biblical, historical, and legal rights in our homeland, and against our right and duty to self-defense and security,” he said.
Khan al-Ahmar has been the subject of a years-long legal and political battle. In 2018, the High Court of Justice ruled that the village could be evacuated, but successive governments delayed implementation. The United Nations, the ICC and other international bodies have warned that demolishing the village could violate international law and may constitute a war crime.
Right-wing ministers and settlement leaders have long called for Khan al-Ahmar’s removal, arguing that the village was built illegally and sits in a strategically important area near Jerusalem.
Hamas condemned Smotrich’s announcement and called on the UN and international bodies to intervene and hold Israeli leaders accountable.
Smotrich heads the Settlements Administration, a Defense Ministry body created in 2023 to oversee matters related to Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and advance construction there. His repeated calls for applying Israeli sovereignty in the territory have drawn international criticism.