'Jerusalem 2050' Plan: Settlement Engineering to Isolate the City and Determine the Fate of the West Bank

The settlement issue in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem is at its most dangerous turning point in decades, as Israeli policies have moved beyond traditional urban expansion towards comprehensive geographical determination. The occupation government recently announced tenders for the construction of 3,400 new settlement units within the strategic project known as (E1), located in the eastern area of the Holy City.

Experts and specialists in settlement affairs believe that these moves aim to create a new replacement engineering that erases the city's borders and completely isolates it from its Palestinian surroundings. Researcher Khalil Tafakji confirmed that the occupation seeks to transform Jerusalem into 'Greater Jerusalem' by establishing a belt of massive colonies occupying a longitudinal area of up to 35 kilometers and a width of approximately 20 kilometers.

This intensive settlement expansion aims to tightly close off the eastern area of Jerusalem, practically separating the northern West Bank from its south and destroying any possibility of Palestinian geographical connection. These steps are in implementation of a historical Zionist vision that seeks to undermine the components of a future Palestinian state and transform population centers into isolated enclaves.

For his part, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, head of the Palestinian National Initiative, warned that the current settlement scene has reached the final and actual stages of implementation on the ground. Barghouti stressed that any reliance on international or American pressure to stop these plans is a 'great illusion,' especially in light of the full adoption of the colonial project by successive administrations in Washington.

This settlement escalation is linked to a comprehensive plan known as 'Jerusalem 2050,' a massive project that seeks to redefine the city's demographic and economic identity under Israeli sovereignty. The plan includes the establishment of an international airport in the 'Nabi Musa' area, in addition to the construction of a huge tourism infrastructure comprising about 12,000 hotel rooms extending between East Jerusalem and the edges of the Jordan Valley area.

In the context of a political reading of these developments, research sources indicated that the current Israeli government is exploiting the state of complete international silence and the decline in global interest in the Palestinian issue. Researcher Muhannad Mustafa explained that Tel Aviv sees the current regional circumstances as a golden opportunity to accelerate the pace of construction in the (E1) project without fear of any real deterrence or international sanctions.

Field data indicate that the occupation is racing against time to impose new realities that will be difficult to reverse in the future, benefiting from the absence of serious pressure. These moves confirm that the battle in Jerusalem and the West Bank has moved from a struggle over land to a stage of final spatial and demographic determination, serving the occupation's strategic vision of complete control.

Israeli occupation does not deal with Jerusalem as a narrow border city, but aims to transform it into 'Greater Jerusalem' through a belt of colonies extending for tens of kilometers.