9,000 new Israeli homes planned for east Jerusalem

The new homes would be located between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Kafr ‘Aqab, Qalandiya and Al-Ram in Jerusalem. The approval process for the Housing Ministry’s request is expected to take years. If approved, this will be the first new neighborhood in east Jerusalem since Har Homa was established in 1997.

“[Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is asking to land another fatal blow to the chances of a two state solution for two people,” said Peace Now. “The planned neighborhood places a wedge in the heart of the Palestinian urban sprawl that exists between Ramallah and east Jerusalem, and as such prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Netanyahu is leading Israel to the reality of an bi-national apartheid state and is putting the Zionist enterprise in jeopardy.”

The approval process includes a bureaucratic stage involving preparation in the planning departments of the municipality and the Planning Administration which takes several months. Afterwards, the plan will be placed before the District Planning and Building Committee for approval and, if approved, will be filed for public review. After any objections are heard, the plan will be placed before the district committee again for a final approval. The whole process should take a few years, depending on the various authorities involved.

Most of the land involved in the plan is considered government property and as such would not be taken from private owners. Some of the land does belong to private owners and the owners would be granted the rights to parts of the plan based on the value of the land they own. Dozens of Palestinian homes built in the area in past years without permits will most likely be demolished as part of the plan.

Israel’s Transportation Ministry advanced plans on Monday to build a new train station that would directly connect Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The National Planning and Building Council approved the new route following a directive by Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The project, an extension of recently opened Jerusalem-Tel Aviv high-speed line, will include a new 1.8 mile-long tunnel under downtown Jerusalem and the Old City, i24news reported.

Jordan called the planned train station a “flagrant violation of international law,” according to the BBC. Foreign ministry spokesman Daifallah al-Fayez called on the international community to “assume its responsibilities to resist the illegitimate and illegal Israeli steps.”