TEL AVIV, November 11, 2015
(WAFA) – The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem Wednesday approved the
construction of 891 housing units in the settlement of Gilo, illegally constructed
on Palestinians’ land in Bethlehem in the West Bank, the Israeli daily Yedioth
Ahronoth reported.
According to the daily, while
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a visit to the US, the
municipality decided to announce the construction of settlement units near the
town of Beit Jala.
The municipality claimed the
construction plan was approved in 2013.
On Monday, Israel's
planning committee for construction in the West Bank approved the construction
of another 2,200 new housing units in Ma’aleh Michmash settlement complex, east
of Ramallah, and a plan to regularize two settlement outposts in the area.
The plan included the
settlements of Ma’aleh Michmash, Rimonim, Kochav Hashahar, Tel Zion and Psagot,
and the area south of the settlement of Ofra, Haaretz said.
The approval was
granted in anticipation of a High Court of Justice hearing scheduled for
Wednesday on a petition by the Yesh Din organization and Palestinians from the
area who aim to evacuate the Mitzpeh Danny outpost, which the plan seeks to
recognize.
Under the plan, by
2030 there will be 800 homes in Ma’aleh Michmash, an illegal settlement that
serves as the central land reserve in the region, while 300 more homes will be
added to Kochav Hashahar.
The plan seeks to
regularize the Mitzpeh Danny and Neveh Erez outposts, in addition to tourism
sites and an education complex.
To be noted,
settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory and the Golan
Heights, both occupied since 1967, are considered illegal in international law.
Numerous UN resolutions have
stated that the building and existence of Israeli settlements in the West Bank,
East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are a violation of international law,
including UN Security Council resolutions in 1979 and 1980.
UN Security Council Resolution
446 refers to the Fourth Geneva Convention as the applicable international
legal instrument, and calls upon Israel to desist from transferring its own
population into the territories or changing their demographic makeup.
M.N/M.H
