Israel Approves Plan for 450 Settlement Units in East Jerusalem

Jerusalem, MINA – The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee of the Israeli municipality has approved the deposit of a plan to construct approximately 450 settlement housing units in the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Lison in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli rights group Ir Amim, as cited by Wafa.

The project, identified as Plan No. 1049873, was initially submitted in 2022 by the Topodia company. However, its approval process was delayed for more than two years after the committee required the expansion of the access road leading to the proposed construction site.

Ir Amim said the delay occurred because private developers were unable to submit plans for expanding public roads that were not under their ownership, preventing the completion of the planning process. The Israeli municipality later joined the project as the official applicant, enabling the road expansion to be included within the same development plan.

Umm Lison, situated between Jabal al-Mukabbir and Sur Baher in occupied East Jerusalem, currently consists of around 800 Palestinian residential units, most of them two- or three-storey buildings.

Read Also: Israeli Attacks Kill Palestinian Couple as Gaza Ceasefire Violations Continue

Under the new proposal, buildings of up to 10 storeys would be constructed, along with approximately 450 settlement housing units, a move that Ir Amim said would dramatically transform the neighborhood’s urban landscape and demographic balance.

According to the rights group, the project would become the largest settlement development ever planned inside a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem. It surpasses the Maale Zeitim settlement enclave in Ras al-Amud, which contains around 120 housing units.

Ir Amim estimated that the new project could accommodate nearly 2,000 Israeli settlers in the heart of an existing Palestinian community.

The organization also said the active involvement of the Israeli municipality in reviving the project after more than two years of delays demonstrates what it described as a clear political decision to advance one of the largest and most significant settlement expansion projects in occupied East Jerusalem in recent years.[]

Read Also: Amnesty Warns of Ethnic Cleansing Risk Amid West Bank Settler Violence

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)