Israel seeks to build 450 settlement units in Jerusalem: Haaretz

The Israeli Justice Ministry is advancing illegal settlement plans including 450 settlement units for Jews in the heart of occupied Jerusalem, Haaretz revealed earlier this week.

The settlement plan, the paper said, was submitted by a real estate company run by right-wing activists to build the 450 settlement units for Jews in the heart of a Palestinian residential area.

According to Haaretz, 12 dunams (3 acres) will be used between the Palestinian villages of Umm Lisan and Jabel Mukaber in East Jerusalem.

The real estate company, Haaretz said, bought 80 per cent of the land in the area and the remaining part was allegedly owned by Jews before 1948.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said it rejected the plan, which it says “aims to separate Palestinian neighbourhoods, towns and communities in Jerusalem from each other.”

In the statement, the ministry said that the “Israeli government is racing against time to implement its expansionist map of interests at the expense of Palestinian land and deepening the annexation of Jerusalem.”

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