Middle East Monitor / July 5, 2022
Israeli occupation authorities announced yesterday that they had delayed a hearing, discussing objections to the controversial settlement project in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
Objections against the projects were filed by a large number of Palestinian attorneys along with several Israeli rights groups.
The Civil Administration of the Israeli army, which authorizes construction work in the occupied Palestinian territories, rescheduled the meeting for 12 September, reported The Times of Israel.
The announcement comes after the Israeli Defence Ministry reapproved the plan to advance a controversial settlement project in the E1 area last month. The Israeli government withdrew the plan in January amid international pressure.
The area known as E1 to the east of occupied Jerusalem has long been considered a red line and a point of no return for the internationally-backed two-state solution.
The E1 project was first approved by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in 2012 and then put on hold for roughly eight years amid significant international pushback.
The homes would be built east of the illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the middle of the occupied West Bank, breaking up contiguity between Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem and the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.
