Israeli NGOs have warned against the settlement plan signed by the government, claiming it would represent the first expansion of Jerusalem’s borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
The proposal was announced in early February, at a time of growing international condemnation of incremental measures aimed at strengthening Israeli control over the West Bank, which critics say amount to a de facto annexation of Palestinian territory.
The planned project, announced by Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing, formally envisions the western expansion of the Geva Binyamin (also known as Adam) settlement, located northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
The ministry said in a statement that the development agreement includes the construction of approximately 2,780 housing units for the Geva Binyamin settlement, with an investment of approximately 120 million Israeli shekels (about $38.7 million).
However, the area planned for development is on the Israeli side of the separation barrier built in the early 2000s, while the settlement of Geva Binyamin itself is on the West Bank side, separated by a road.
The Israeli organization Peace Now said there would be no “territorial or functional connection” between the planned area and the existing settlement.
“The new settlement will be an integral part of the city of Jerusalem,” said Peace Now Executive Director Lior Amihai.
Researcher of the organization Ir Amim Aviv Tatarsky assessed that the move represents a de facto expansion of the city. “If it is built and people live there, they will live as residents of Jerusalem,” he said, adding that in practice it is not about the expansion of the settlement, but about the expansion of Jerusalem.
The development agreement was signed by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, the Ministry of Finance and the Binyamin Regional Council, which represents the settlements north of Ramallah in the central part of the West Bank.
The plan still needs to be reviewed by the Senior Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, a process that could take months or years.
Without East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. About three million Palestinians live in that territory, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
(Vijesti.ba)
