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‘Apartheid road’ between Jerusalem and settlements may open soon, says Israeli NGO

February 28, 2018 at 9:11 am

Construction workers build illegal settlements in the West Bank, 9 October 2017 [Wisam Hashlamoun/Apaimages]

New construction work on a road near occupied East Jerusalem could portend the imminent opening of an “apartheid road”, Israeli NGO Ir Amim has warned.

Earlier this week, the group said in a press release, its field researchers “spotted new construction work on the northern section of the Eastern Ring…final construction of which was announced last June”. The new road will serve traffic between Jerusalem and illegal settlements to the northeast.

According to Ir Amim, the new construction “is most likely for a checkpoint that will control traffic coming into the city”, and “signals that the road…may become operational in the coming months”.

The NGO added that “this road is part of the infrastructure advanced by Israel to create so-called ‘Greater Jerusalem’, bringing together the city and settlements surrounding it”.

Other projects underway, cited by Ir Amim, include “the Zeitim interchange (connecting the new road to the highway coming into Jerusalem from Ma’ale Adumim [settlement]”, and “plans to expand the Tunnel Road between Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion settlements near Bethlehem”.

Read: Settler walkway to link Jerusalem settlements