Middle East Monitor / March 10, 2025
The Israeli occupation government intends to approve 1,030 new Jewish settlement units in the towns of Sur Baher and Jabal al-Mukaber, in the occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Information Centre reported today.
According to a plan published by Hebrew media, 380 housing units are expected to be constructed in the illegal Nof Zion Jewish settlement near Jabal al-Mukaber, in addition to a school, two synagogues and commercial areas.
About 650 more housing units, commercial areas, an elementary school, a synagogue, a community centre and a kindergarten will also be built near the Sur Baher neighbourhood, between the Ramat Rachel settlement kibbutz and the Har Homa neighbourhood.
Illegal Jewish settlements are suffocating the occupied city of Jerusalem and besieging its Arab neighbourhoods, placing it at risk of Judaisation and displacement, in an effort to “legitimise” the annexation of the settlements illegally built on Palestinian land.
All Jewish settlements are illegal under international law and, in July last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) called for Israel to dismantle settlements and pay reparations to Palestinians.
