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Israel discusses building 6,000 new settlement units

July 30, 2019 at 12:09 pm

An aerial view of a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem on 4 October 2018 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Israel’s Security Cabinet has been discussing plan to approve 6,000 settlement units in “Area C” of the occupied Palestinian territories, Haaretz reported today.

According to the Israeli public broadcasting corporation Kan, it was “unclear whether the plans for construction would be for new units or to legalise existing illegal structures.”

Haaretz also reported sources familiar with the matter saying that the plan was initiated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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The sources also said that the initiative included building 700 Palestinian housing units in return for building “the 6,000 Jewish settlement units which are currently in the process of approval.”

Both the Jewish and Palestinian units are planned to be built in parts of Area C in the occupied West Bank, which is under the military and administrative control of the Israeli occupation.

Mateh Binyamin Regional Council chief Israel Gantz and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said plans to build home for Palestinians were “particularly worrying”.

“As the Palestinian Authority is actively carrying out an illegal takeover of Area C, we hope that this report is inaccurate,” the statement said, adding that the plan will serve “the terrorist state in the heart of Israel.”

The statement added: “The only place for large-scale construction projects that serve the Arab sector in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] is the area under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.”

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