Israeli Authorities Approve 142 Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

by Guest Tue Mar 31, 2015 1:08 pm

Jerusalem

The Israeli West Jerusalem municipality Monday approved construction of 142 new settlement units in East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media website Walla!.

It reported that the municipality's committee approved the building of 142 new settlement units in Jabal Abu Ghnaim, recognized by the Israeli government as the illegal settlement of Har Homa.

Israel has been approving the building of new housing units in settlements located in the Palestinian territory, including in East Jerusalem, despite of international condemnations.

The United States, along with other world countries, have continuously expressed concern over Israel's settlement construction, which is internationally slammed illegal based on international law.

In October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave orders for the construction of 1,060 new settlement units in two settlements in East Jerusalem; 660 new units in 'Ramot Shlomo', and 400 in 'Har Homa', in addition to an infrastructure project of 12 new settlement roads in the West Bank.

Only last week, the Jerusalem Municipality stated that the "planned construction of some 1,500 apartments in the capital's southeastern Har Homa neighborhood has been frozen."

The Jerusalem Post website reported that, "While no rationale for the freeze was provided; the municipality issued a brief statement Wednesday afternoon saying that the plan has been "dropped from the agenda of the Interior Ministry's local planning committee." It remains unclear if, or when, the contentious project will be resumed."

It said that some speculate that the construction freeze is an attempt to improve foundering diplomatic relations - amid heightened tensions between Netanyahu and Obama's administration.

It said that, the settlement freeze decision stands in stark contrast to Netanyahu's declaration while visiting Har Homa the day before this month's election that there is "a way of stopping Bethlehem from moving toward Jerusalem."

Netanyahu was quoted as saying, "We will continue to build in Jerusalem. We will add thousands of residential units and withstand all the [international] pressure, as we continue to develop our eternal capital."

http://www.news786.in/article.php?id=MTQ5Njc=

It appears the freeze didn't last very long.