Europeans at UN urge Israel not to demolish Palestinian village

UNITED NATIONS, USA — Eight European countries at the United Nations including five Security Council members on Thursday called on Israel to reverse its decision to demolish a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Poland and the Netherlands warned that the demolition of the village of Khan Al Ahmar "would severely threaten the viability of the two-state solution".

"We therefore call upon the Israeli authorities to reconsider their decision to demolish Khan Al Ahmar," the countries said in a joint statement released ahead of a council meeting on the Middle East.

On September 5, Israeli Supreme Court upheld an order to raze the village on grounds that it was built without the proper permits.

The community of roughly 200 people is located in a strategic spot near Israeli settlements and along a road leading to the Dead Sea.

The Palestinian government previously said the demolition plans amounted to "ethnic cleansing".

There have been warnings that continued Israeli settlement construction in that area could divide the West Bank in two and cut it off from Jerusalem, killing off the prospect of amassing contiguous land for a viable future Palestinian state.