Khan al-Ahmar (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - European diplomats on Thursday tried to pay a solidarity visit to a West Bank village under threat of demolition by Israel but police barred them from reaching a school there.

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

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

"We were briefed by local leaders but refused access by security forces to the school," the Irish representative office to the West Bank wrote on its official Twitter feed.

"We wanted to show our solidarity with this village which is threatened with destruction, for humanitarian reasons and because it is a major issue of international law," the Consul General of France in Jerusalem, Pierre Cochard, told journalists at the scene.

He said that demolishing the village of 173 residents, east of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, 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.

Israeli authorities say the village and its school were built illegally, and in May the Supreme Court rejected a final appeal against its demolition.

Activists say the villagers had little alternative but to build without Israeli construction permits, as the documents are almost never issued to Palestinians for building in parts of the West Bank, such as Khan al-Ahmar, where Israel has full control over civilian affairs.

The army said Thursday that following the court ruling, the process of enforcing eviction and demolition orders was under way, but did not say when the buildings would be razed.

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"The organisations responsible for the matter, including security forces, have begun preparing for the execution of demolition warrants that were issued against illegal buildings in Khan al-Ahmar," it said in an English-language statement

"Accordingly, the preparation of the routes necessary to enforce the warrants has begun, as well as infrastructure works in an alternative area for the residents who will be evacuated."

Activists expect the demolition to happen within the next few days.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, Jamie McGoldrick, 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.

- 'Cease demolitions!' -

"I call again on the Israeli authorities to cease demolitions and other measures that may result in the forcible transfer of Palestinians," McGoldrick said in a statement.

Scuffles broke out Wednesday as a bulldozer went to work levelling ground next to the village in what residents believed was preparation for an imminent eviction operation.

Protesters, including some waving Palestinian flags, tried to block the bulldozer and tussled with police. Some climbed onto the machine in protest.

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

Dozens of journalists and activists stood at the edge of the village on Thursday.

"What the Israeli authorities are doing is a population transfer contrary to the Rome and Geneva conventions," Palestinian lawyer Munji Abdallah, 50, told AFP.

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

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