17 December 2015•Update: 17 December 2015
JERUSALEM
An Israeli planning committee on Wednesday approved plans to build 891 new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israel’s Jerusalem planning committee approved the construction of the new housing units in the southern Jewish-only “Gilo” settlement in East Jerusalem, which lies beyond the green line, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
Initial approval for this plan was given in 2012, but was postponed due to some adjustments.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the historic city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories, considering all Jewish settlement building on the land to be illegal.
Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to “Judaize” the city with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and ultimately driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.
About 550,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967. The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, in which to establish their future state.
