An Israeli government committee is scheduled to discuss – next Monday – a settlement plan that isolates occupied East Jerusalem and divides the West Bank, despite international objections to the project, while a Palestinian official revealed that 22,000 homes owned by Palestinians in Jerusalem are threatened with demolition.
The plan known as “E1” provides for the construction of 3,412 settlement units accommodating 14,500 settlers on Palestinian lands east of Jerusalem, according to which a bloc of settlements will be established between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, preventing communication between the south and north of the West Bank, and strengthening the annexation of the Ma’ale Adumim bloc to Israel.
The project would isolate Jerusalem from its eastern side and divide the West Bank into two parts.
The Israeli anti-settlement “Peace Now” movement said that the objections subcommittee within the Israeli Supreme Planning Committee (affiliated to the occupation civil administration) will discuss, during its scheduled meeting – next Monday – objections to the plan by Palestinian landowners and Israeli left-wing organizations such as the “Peace Now” organization. .
The Israeli organization added – in a statement – that the upcoming discussion is the last in the stage of hearing the objection, after which the committee will make its decision on the settlement plan.
Because of American and European criticism, Israel previously postponed discussing the plan, but the return to discussing the project comes at a time when Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government is seeking to accelerate the pace of settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Today, Wednesday, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the upcoming meeting of the Planning and Building Committee, and said that the plan leads to completely separating Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, especially from the east, separating the north of the West Bank from its south, and dismembering the West Bank and separating it into two parts.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry indicated in a statement that the “E1” settlement project blocks the way for the opportunity to embody the Palestinian state on the ground with East Jerusalem as its capital, in implementation of the principle of the two-state solution, and called for real international and American pressure to stop this scheme.
Houses threatened with demolition
Meanwhile, Ahmed Al-Ruwaidi, advisor to the Palestinian Presidency for Jerusalem Affairs, said today that about 22,000 Palestinian homes in occupied Jerusalem are threatened with demolition by the Israeli occupation authorities as part of its plan to Judaize the city.
Al-Ruwaidi added – in statements to the Palestinian Radio – that Israel pursues individual house demolitions, at the rate of 30 to 40 homes and facilities in occupied Jerusalem every month.
He added that the Israeli plan, behind the demolition of Palestinian homes, aims to escalate the policy of expelling the Palestinian population in Jerusalem, to reduce their numbers from about 42% currently to less than 20%, and to change the demographic composition of the city.
The Palestinian official explained that the Israeli demolition policy is currently focusing on the Old City and its surrounding areas, east of Jerusalem, claiming that there are building violations and lack of licensing, noting that only 12% of the city’s area is allowed to be built for Palestinians.
The advisor to the Palestinian Presidency’s Office linked the escalation of the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes to the settlement project, which will be discussed by an Israeli government committee next Monday.
