Israel set to approve over 1,000 additional settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli authorities will approve on Wednesday the construction of over 1,000 additional settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli media.

The public broadcaster KAN said the Planning and Building Committee of the Israeli Municipality in Jerusalem will approve the new settler homes in different existing settlements in East Jerusalem.

Under the Israeli plan, 380 settlement units will be built in the Nof Zion settlement near the Jabal al-Mukaber area in addition to a school, two synagogues, and commercial areas, KAN said.

The broadcaster said 650 settlement units, commercial areas, a school, a synagogue, a community center, and kindergartens will also be built between Kibbutz Ramat Rachel and the Har Homa settlements near the Palestinian neighborhood of Sur Baher in southern East Jerusalem.

According to KAN, a proposal was sent last week by Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor Arieh King, a right-wing politician, to the Israeli government to promote the expansion of the Jerusalem municipality boundary to include settlements classified in the West Bank areas, in a move that would strengthen the Jewish majority in Jerusalem.

According to Israeli estimates, the Palestinians represent 39% of the residents of both East and West Jerusalem.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.