According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, plans were approved to build 600 new settler housing units in Occupied East Jerusalem near the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood and the Palestinian area of Shuafat. The plan was approved by a district planning commission on Friday.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has insisted on a total settlement freeze on all occupied lands before negotiations with Israel could continue. Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not include the Jerusalem municipality from a 10–month settlement moratorium he ordered in November.
Over 200,000 Israelis live in occupied East Jerusalem and adjacent areas of the West Bank that were captured in the 1967 war, areas that Israel considers part of its “eternal and indivisible capital.” The International Court of Justice has ruled that the settlements are a violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.
Read more at Al Jazeera.
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