Occupied Jerusalem, March 13: A total of 50,000 new homes for Jewish settlers in mainly Arab east Jerusalem are in various stages of planning, according to a report published on Thursday by an Israeli anti-settlement group.
Plans for 20,000 apartments are in advanced stages of approval, while plans for the other 30,000 still need to be submitted to planning committees, the Ir Amin group said.
The report coincided with a major diplomatic row Israel ignited by announcing plans for 1,600 settler homes in east Jerusalem while U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was in the region this week to promote new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Ir Amin said most of the planned homes would be built in existing settlements, but also pointed to plans to build two new Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
The Jerusalem municipality dismissed the report, saying the data were wrong, and pointed out that it also plans to build housing for Arab residents of east Jerusalem.
“Ir Amim should congratulate us for our efforts in favor of the Arab population for which we plan to build 9,000 housing units,” a statement said.
Israel considers Jerusalem its “eternal and indivisible” capital, but the Palestinians see its eastern part as the capital of their promised state.
Israel seized east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community.
–Agencies