Israel to build 800 new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem

The Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality’s planning and construction committee is set to approve a plan to build 800 new settlement housing units in the occupied city, Ynet News reported today. The plan will be discussed at the committee’s next meeting.

The new homes, the statement added, are planned to be built in Pisgat Ze’ev, Neve Ya’akov, Ramot, and Gilo Israeli settlements. The local committee will also submit construction plans for an additional 114 residential units in the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jabel Mukaber, Ras al-Amud, Sharafat, Shuafat and A-Tur. The expected settlement approvals mark the largest expansion over the past few years.

Read: Number of Israeli settlement building licences at highest since 1992

In recent weeks, Israel has stepped up its settlement activity in Jerusalem, a city that has been occupied by the Zionist state since 1967. On Wednesday, the Jerusalem committee approved plans to build dozens of settlement units in Ramat Shlomo and Ramot.

#LandGrab

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on land stolen from the Palestinians. Such land is also supposedly earmarked for any future Palestinian state, but the settlements are making the viability of such an entity less and less likely.