Israel to Approve Additional 1500 Settler Units in Occupied E.J'Lem

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/national/5496-israel-to-approve-additional-1500-settler-units

PNN   23 August 2013

The Finance Committee of the Jerusalem City Council will be approving Sunday a new budget to build 1,500 units for Israeli settlers in occupied Jerusalem, according to Israeli sources.

Ahmad Sub Laban, a Palestinian Researcher who specialized in Israeli settlement affairs, said the units will expand Ramat Shlomo settlement toward the Palestinian town Shu’fat. He added that the plan was initially approved last year.

Sub Laban continued, saying the plan would cause Israel to illegally confiscate 580 Dunams of Palestinian land in Shu’fat limiting the possibility of expanding Shu’fat and Beit Hanina from their western sides.

While there have been appeals made against the plan, according to the researcher, the Israeli Constructions Committee rejected some and ignored the rest. 

The original plan included an additional 180 units that were eliminated after settlers living in Ramat Shlomo filed appeals claiming the construction would affect the view from their homes.

This most recent approval comes after Israel already announced the construction of around 2,000 new illegal settler units in occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the West Bank.

The settlements are considered illegal by international law and most countries because they are built on lands captured in the 1967 war and are therefore subject to the Geneva Convention, which prohibits construction on occupied territories.