Israel to build 220 settlement units in Jerusalem

Israel approved plans to construct 220 illegal settlement units in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Jabal Al-Mukaber, a settlement activist has revealed yesterday.

Aryeh King, a right-wing candidate running for the Jerusalem Municipality, said the Israeli Civil Administration had approved the plans.

The units would serve as part of the expansion plan for the illegal Israeli settlement of Nof Tzion, adjacent to the area in question.

Sources also said that the construction plan was approved by the Israeli Civil Administration, noting that the plan is still open to objections.

However, if the construction plan is approved without any objections, 220 new settlement units are expected to start construction in the next few months.

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According to settlement watchdog Peace Now, in the year and a half since President Donald Trump took office some 14,454 units in the West Bank has been approved, which is more than three times the amount that was approved in the year and half before his inauguration.

Since the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis have moved into Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international law.

The estimated 196 government recognised Israeli settlements scattered across the Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law.