JERUSALEM, April 26, 2017 (WAFA) – The Israeli Ministry of Housing and the West Jerusalem municipality approved the construction of 10,000 housing units in a Jewish settlement planned in the area of Qalandia, also known as Atarot industrial area, in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media reports.

The Israeli Channel 10 TV said on Tuesday that the planned construction will be very close to Palestinian houses and was supposed to be approved years ago but was frozen due to objection by the former US administration.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews live in about 140 settlements deemed illegal and illegitimate according to international law and by the international community because they were built on land Israel had occupied in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians want for their future state.

K.T./M.K.