Israeli court rejects 3 petitions to freeze East Jerusalem settlement plan

An Israeli court on Tuesday rejected three petitions to freeze a tender for the construction of 1,234 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, despite widespread international criticism of the project that would undermine prospects for establishing a Palestinian state, Anadolu reports.

This came in a joint statement by Israeli organizations Ir Amim, Bimkom and Peace Now.

According to the statement, the Jerusalem District Court rejected petitions for an interim order to freeze the tender for building 1,234 settlement units in the E1 area and to halt any further steps to implement the plan.

Judge Nimrod Flax ruled that a long time still separates the publication of the tender from the start of actual implementation and changes on the ground, it added.

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The three consolidated petitions against the E1 plans would likely be decided before that stage is reached, the judge said.

Israel’s government recently published tenders to build 1,234 settlement units in the E1 project, which links the Ma’ale Adumim settlement with East Jerusalem at the expense of occupied Palestinian land.

Dozens of Arab, Islamic and Western countries have criticized the project, warning that it undermines the implementation of the two-state solution. They warned that implementing the project would separate the central occupied West Bank from its south and isolate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings in the West Bank.

The UN and most countries consider Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land illegal under international law and say they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

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