Israel approves construction of 212 new settlement units in Jerusalem

The Israeli Planning and Construction Committee has approved the construction of 212 new settlement units in Pisgat Ze’ev and Ramat Shlomo settlements in the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The Israeli army radio said the project is part of a “large settlement plan to be implemented during the new US administration era”.

Last month, Israel’s cabinet approved the establishment of a new settlement in the West Bank for settlers evicted from Amona outpost and confiscated hundreds of dunums of Palestinian private lands in Ramallah for that purpose.

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The settlers were evicted from the Amona outpost after the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that it had been built illegally on private Palestinian land.

The US has recently described Israel’s continued settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as “not helpful in the peace process”.

We want the settlement construction to stop, and we hope the Palestinian and Israeli sides will sit at the negotiating table,

said US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.

On 23rd December, 2016, the UN Security Council voted in favour of a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory.

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The resolution was supported by 14 out of the council’s 15 member states with the United States only abstaining.

Palestinian demonstrators hold national flags and placards during a protest against Jewish settlements in West Bank on 26 March 2017 [Wisam Hashlamoun/Apaimages]