IN 2014 ISRAEL BUILDS 14,000 HOUSING UNITS IN WB, J'LEM

The UN committee's report stressed the need to investigate Israeli violations in the 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 wars on the Gaza Strip. (Photo: MEMO) — The UN committee’s report stressed the need to investigate Israeli violations in the 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2014 wars on the Gaza Strip. (Photo: MEMO)

Al-Quds, 29 Muharam 1436/22 November 2014 (MINA) –The Israeli occupation has approved since the beginning of the year more than 14,000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, a Palestinian official source revealed.

The Advisor at Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Support Unit, Ashraf al-Khatib, said in an interview with Anadolu news agency that the Israeli authorities have published tenders and approved plans to establish more than 14,000 new housing units, half of them will be carried out in East Jerusalem.

Since the beginning of 2014, tenders to build 5241 housing units were published, while 9282 other housing units were approved in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, he clarified, as quoted by Palestinian Information Center.

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Such steps reflect Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu’s unwillingness to stick to the political settlement process, the PLO official added, charging that the Israeli government is working to impose a status quo on the ground that prevents the two-state solution.

PLO Negotiations Support Unit revealed in a report issued Friday that nearly half of the declared settlement plans are expected to be carried out in east Jerusalem including 1500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, 738 units in Ramot settlement, 437 units in Givat Ze’ev settlement, and 304 units in Kfar Adumim settlement.

The report also pointed out that 708 housing units were approved or to be approved in the Gilo settlement, and 512 units in Har Homa settlement, in addition to 2335 housing units in Givat Hamatos settlement.

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Local and international institutions’ reports about Israeli settlement construction and expansion are mainly based on information leaked by the Israeli leftist organization Peace Now.

The Israeli committee for planning and building has approved Thursday the construction of 78 new housing units northern and southern occupied Jerusalem.

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has voiced dissatisfaction at Israel’s continued building of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying that the expansion of settlements hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.(T/R04/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)