Israel goes ahead with plans to promote settlements in East Jerusalem

UN envoy criticises Israel’s move to expand settlements

A picture taken on November 15, 2020, shows a view of porta cabins in Givat Hamatos, an Israeli settlement suburb of annexed East Jerusalem. AFP 

Israel launched its settler housing plan on Sunday in a sensitive area near East Jerusalem.

The Israel Land Authority invited contractor bids on its website for building 1,257 homes in Givat Hamatos under a plan revived in February by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after it had effectively been frozen by international opposition.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, accused Mr Netanyahu's government of "taking advantage of the final weeks of the Trump administration in order to set facts on the ground" at Givat Hamatos.

Bidding ends on January 18, two days before Joe Biden is due to be sworn in to replace President Donald Trump, whose administration has been supportive of Israeli settlement on occupied land that Palestinians seek for a state.

During his visit to Israel and the West Bank in 2010 – as vice president in Democrat Barack Obama's administration – Mr Biden scolded Israel over a plan it announced during his trip to build 1,600 homes in the Ramat Shlomo settlement.

The UN’s Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov expressed his concern on Monday saying that these constructions plans “would significantly damage prospects for a future contiguous Palestinian state and for achieving a negotiated two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states. Settlement construction is illegal under international law and I call on the authorities to reverse this step”.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said that settlements were illegal under international law and this settlement project was part of Israeli efforts "to kill the internationally-backed two-state solution".

The Palestinians want a state that includes East Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war, and view these settlements as a significant obstacle to peace.

Opponents of the project say that these settlements would sever parts of East Jerusalem from the nearby Palestinian town of Bethlehem in the West Bank.

"This is a key location between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. Any settlement construction will cause serious damage to the prospects for a viable and contiguous Palestinian state," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

As of now, the ILA provided no date for the start of construction.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to visit a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank later this week.