20 February 2019•Update: 20 February 2019
JERUSALEM
Israeli authorities on Wednesday approved the construction of thousands of new Jewish-only housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media.
The Jerusalem’s planning and construction committee has given the green light for building 4,461 settlement units in the city, including 464 units in the Gilo settlement, 480 in the Kiryat Yeovil settlement and 375 in the Kiryat Menachem settlement, Israeli daily Israel Hayoum reported.
The construction also includes the building of new housing units in the Arab neighborhoods of Shufat and Beit Hanina in northern Jerusalem, it said.
The committee also approved the building of 23,576 square meters for operating and working purposes and 4,253 square meters for trade purposes in the city.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) says Israel stepped up settlement construction in East Jerusalem since U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in late 2017.
Roughly 650,000 Israeli Jews currently live on more than 100 settlements built since 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Palestinians want these territories -- along with the Gaza Strip -- for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.
