ISRAEL PUBLISHES TENDERS FOR 580 HOTEL ROOMS IN EAST JERUSALEM

Jerusalem, 20 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/10 February 2015 (MINA) – Israel has published tenders for 580 hotel rooms in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber, a researcher told Ma’an Sunday.

Settlement affairs researcher Ahmad Sublaban told Ma’an the rooms would be built on an area of 70 square kilometers which Israel confiscated when it occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

He said they were a part of a larger plan to build 1,350 hotel rooms, a project approved in 2010, Ma’an News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The plan has been in the works since 2003, and was approved during a visit by US President Barack Obama, stirring controversy.

Israeli authorities plan to build 3,000 hotel rooms in Jabal al-Mukabber, Sheikh Jarrah, Beit Safafa, and Wadi al-Joz, Sublaban said. Some 2,700 of those rooms have been approved over the past several years.

He said that Israel has recently been building hotel rooms in the settlements surrounding Jerusalem, specifically in Maale Adumim and Mishor Adumim.

Last week, Israeli authorities approved the construction of 93 settlement units in Ramat Shlomo, the researcher added.

There are over 500,000 Israeli settlers living in settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law. (T/P010/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)