JERUSALEM, January 16, 2010 (WAFA) – The appeals committee of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee Sunday issued a temporary ban on the construction of a new Jewish housing project on the ruins of Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem.

The ban will last till Wednesday.

The historical site in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem also includes the residence of late Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini.

The Islamic Religious Council filed an objection against the permit for demolishing and building housing units on the grounds that it violates international law and local criminal law.

The Israeli government expropriated the hotel under the Absentee Property Law. The property was sold in 1985 to Irving Moskowitz, an American Jew devoted to building Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. He plans to build a new settlement on the site.

Israel demolished part of the property last week, stirring international condemnation.

R.Q.