Israel approves construction of 1,100 settlement units in Jerusalem

Hebrew media sourced have revealed that the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Planning and Building in Jerusalem has approved a scheme for the construction of 1,100 new housing units and a hotel in the south Jerusalem settlement of Gba’at Hamtoas.

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In its Tuesday edition, Haaretz newspaper stated that the first phase of the Hamtoas scheme, which includes construction of 2,610 housing units, had been approved a few months ago while the recent endorsement of the second phase approves the construction of more than 1,100 housing units and hotel rooms. It added that 1,400 housing units are to be constructed and that the establishment of the hotel represents the fourth stage in construction.

Hagit Ofran, the director of Settlement Watch within the Peace Now movement, has said that Netanyahu’s government is imposing a new reality on the ground ahead of parliamentary elections “that will prevent an agreement with the Palestinian side.”

She pointed out that “this process was a final blow to the idea of two states for two peoples and will prevent communication between East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank, as well as the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state.”