ISRAEL PLANS TO BUILD 63,000 HOUSING UNITS IN O. JERUSALEM, WEST BANK
Ramallah, 6 Jumadal Awwal 1436/25 February 2015 (MINA) – Hebrew media sources disclosed an Israeli project to build 63,000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank within the Israeli occupation policy of Judaization of Palestinian land and displacement of its natives.
This project goes in line with a human rights report confirming that the year 2014 hit a record level of construction bids, Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper stated that Bayit Yehudi Housing Minister Uri Ariel has prepared plans to build more than 48,000 new settlement units in the West Bank, and another 15,000 or so in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli Minister will table the plans with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the eve of his trip to Washington to deliver a speech before the Congress, the newspaper said.
The number of settlement units came to light during the course of discussions over the past few days between Israeli Housing Ministry and Financial Ministry, on the backdrop of the Housing Ministry’s demand for extra budgetary supplements.
The newspaper added that the Israeli Housing Minister is refusing to approve transfer of Israeli military forces to new army bases in Negev in order to pressure the Israeli government to approve the excess settlement expenditure.
On the other hand, the human rights report, issued by Peace Now Movement in Israel, showed that last year hit a record level over ten years in construction bids of settlements in 1967 occupied lands.
The report said the calls for bids have increased by three folds since 2013 compared to Netanyahu’s government term of 2009-2013.
The report also stated that 68% of the new construction was planned to be built on locations other than the settlements announced to be retained by Israel in any future agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. (T/P006/P3)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
