Jerusalem Governorate Warns of Israeli Plan to Establish 9,000 Settlement Units North of the City

On Monday, the Jerusalem Governorate warned of a "dangerous" Israeli plan that Tel Aviv intends to implement on the airport lands and adjacent areas north of the city, including the establishment of 9,000 settlement units.

The governorate stated in a statement: "The Israeli occupation authorities are seeking to implement a dangerous settlement plan on the lands of Jerusalem International Airport and adjacent areas."

It considered the plan a "direct threat to the geographical and demographic continuity of Palestinians between Jerusalem and the city of Ramallah (center of the occupied West Bank)."

It confirmed that the plan "aims to establish about 9,000 settlement units in densely populated Palestinian areas, including Kafr Aqab, Qalandiya, Al-Ram, Beit Hanina, and Bir Nabala, which deepens the policy of separation and isolation imposed on the city and its surroundings, and undermines any political horizon based on the two-state solution."

The governorate warned that "the so-called Israeli District Planning and Construction Committee intends to hold a session on Wednesday to discuss advancing the plan, which may include approving the basic principles of the project, including allocating commercial and public spaces."

It also noted that "the Israeli Ministry of Finance recently requested approval from the Knesset Finance Committee (Parliament) to transfer 16 million shekels (about 5 million dollars) to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, under the pretext of rehabilitating polluted lands, including Jerusalem International Airport, in a step that practically accelerates the implementation of the settlement project."

The Jerusalem Governorate warned that implementing the plan "will lead to the creation of a settlement enclave that separates northern Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings."

It confirmed that it "will continue to expose the plan and address the international community and human rights institutions as a blatant violation of international law and decisions of international legitimacy."

The Palestinian governmental Anti-Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission had spoken in a previous report about Israel's seizure of 2,800 dunams in the West Bank during last November, "through orders of placing hands and expropriation and amending state land boundaries."

Israel's devouring of the West Bank and then formally annexing it to it would end the possibility of implementing the principle of the two-state solution stipulated in resolutions issued by the United Nations.

This comes amid escalating attacks by the army and settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem coinciding with the start of Israel's genocide war in Gaza on October 8, 2023, which lasted for two years and ended with a ceasefire agreement that entered into force last October.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide, the army and settlers have killed 1,094 Palestinians in the West Bank and injured about 11,000 others, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.