Israel approves construction of 900 new settler units to mark its illegal creation on May 16

Israel has approved the construction of 900 new illegal settler units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) to mark its unlawful creation on May 16. Although international criticism of its expansionist policies is mounting, Israeli extremist Zionist government is busy to demolish Palestinian residential areas.

An Israeli activist group known as Peace Now said on Thursday that the city’s district planning committee has given the go-ahead for the new housing units to be built in Ramat Shlomo settlement. It is pertinent to mention here that the high court approved on Monday a request from the Israeli civil administration to demolish the tents and houses of Khirbet Susiya Village near the city of Hebron (al-Khalil). The planned destruction will leave 450 Palestinians homeless.

“They’ve approved the request, and now they’re allowed to build,” media outlets quoted Peace Now spokeswoman, Hagit Ofran, as saying, who also added, “The plan (for 900 units) has been approved even though they don’t have the roads.”

The Israeli Interior Ministry had already announced a plan to build hundreds of settler homes in the same ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in East al-Quds. However, construction was delayed because the planning committee said new roads need to be built first.

The latest approval comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has finally managed to form his ruling coalition before a deadline for the formation of new government. He has announced a deal with the Jewish Home (Bayit Yehudi), a Zionist pro-settlement party.

International criticism is growing against Israel’s settlement activities. The international community regards all Israeli settlements built on the occupied Palestinian land as illegal.
Meanwhile, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has stepped up its efforts against the Israeli expansionist policies.

BDS is an international anti-Israeli campaign aimed at exerting pressure on Tel Aviv for its “occupation and colonization” of the Arab lands. In its website, the BDS movement demands that the Israelis respect the Palestinians’ inalienable right to their homeland, and allow Palestinians who have fled Palestine to other countries to return to their homes.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967.
Israel occupied and then annexed the West Bank and East al-Quds in the Six-Day War of 1967, but the move has never been recognized by the international community.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the besieged Gaza Strip and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories.