Occupied Jerusalem/PNN/ By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report, that settlement in area E1 is still on the Israeli agenda as it aims to link occupied Jerusalem with a number of settlements, such as Ma’ale Adumim, and to bring about what it calls “Greater Jerusalem” that constitutes 10% of the area of the West Bank, which eliminates any possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian State after suspending the plan to divide the West Bank into 2 parts at the beginning of the year amid international pressures and a pledge to the United States that the occupying power would not go ahead with the project.
The Jerusalem municipality again put on the agenda for a meeting scheduled for next July, the construction project in E1, where they intend to research construction and settlement expansion in the region. The so-called Civil Administration of the Occupation Army has announced that a session will be set for next July 18, in which the discussion of the settlement projects that obtained the initial approval will be on its agenda. Its announcement comes in response to the petition of the “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement to the Israeli Supreme Court, following the freezing of settlement expansion and construction and the suspension of the construction plan in the settlement under the direction of the Israeli government.
Knowing that the planned area for settlement construction is 12,000 dunums, where about 3,500 settlement units are to be built. It is known that this area is near the settlement of ‘Ma'ale Adumim’ between the north and south of the West Bank, which prevents any Palestinian geographic contiguity between the north and south of the West Bank. Noteworthy that a project for settlement expansion in the E1 area was approved for the first time by the Netanyahu’s Government in 2012, but the project was suspended and frozen for 8 years under American and international pressures.
At the same time, the military rule in Beit El announced the confiscation of an area of 54 dunums of the lands of the Al-Tur village for the benefit of the settlement street called “Al-Touq Street no. 4585”, known as the "American Street", which link a group of settlements surrounding the occupied city, and it is an extension of the street that connects the settlements located in the southeastern part with the northern settlements.
Thus, the right-wing government led by Naftali Bennett is working to advance many settlement projects and network settlements, and increase their influence and expansion at the expense of the Palestinian territories. The detailed plans for the street after the confiscation of 1,070 dunums of the lands of the villages of “Sur Baher, Abu Dis, Al-Tur, and Anata, knowing that the occupation municipality in Jerusalem began publishing full information about it within detailed plans and put the mentioned huge budget for it.
From bridges over Wadi Al-Nar south of occupied Jerusalem, and aims to establish industrial barriers that prevent the development of Palestinian villages and restrict their natural growth, after they were placed between the jaws of the settlements and bypass roads. Road no. 1 linking the settlement of ‘Ma'ale Adumim’ with Jerusalem, and the other 2 tunnels are located in Abu Dis lands with a length of 200m, which was planned when Sharon was Minister of Construction and housing under Netanyahu, and in 1999 was adopted by the Regional Committee for Building and Planning during Barak's era.
In Jerusalem as well, the so-called “Local Committee for Planning and Building” approved a project to build 820 new settlement units as part of the construction plan in two areas south of the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. The project will be implemented in its first part by building 130 settlement units in the Ottoman - Revolutionary train station - and the second 490 units along the Green Line - Al Walaja - Qatamon within the plan to erase the Green Line separating the 48 lands and the West Bank in favor of expanding settlements in the south of the city.
According to the project, the demolition of the train building will be included, with the aim of constructing 30 apartments and constructing two new buildings of 10 and 18 floors comprising 130 new settlement apartments, as part of a major project that has been underway for 4 years, in the neighborhoods of Katamon. This week the demolition of an old apartment building on San Martin Street, as part of an eviction-construction and demolition project has begun
