Jerusalem, February 17: Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank have reportedly announced plans to build a military base inside the illegally annexed al-Quds (Jerusalem), a report says.
The military base is expected to be constructed on Mount Scopus, well within the Palestinian territory and beyond the pre-1967 borders, a media correspondent reported.
“There can be no peace through military bases which Israel intends to build on the Olive Mountain whether it’s on land occupied in 1967 or even land occupied in 1948,” said Adnan Husseini, PA- appointed governor of al-Quds.
“The question here is of the rights that must be returned to the Palestinian people,” he added.
Palestinians strongly oppose Israeli settlement activities, especially in East al-Quds, where they plan to establish their capital in the future Palestinian state, said Ibrahim Husseini.
Under the international law, it is illegal to build Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
But Israeli municipal authorities have already hired an architect and laid preparations for the military base, according to Israeli media reports.
“This shows that Israel is trying to turn Arab East al-Quds into a part of Israel by moving ministries and the so-called police there. But for Palestinians, this won’t change the fact that East al-Quds is an occupied city,” said PA official Ahmad al-Roweidi.
The army base will take up eight acres of land and will house military colleges, consisting of a command and staff school, a school for national security, military academy learning institutes, a swimming pool, a gym and more.
This coincides with recent announcements by the Israeli regime of plans to build 120 settlement units in occupied East al-Quds.
—-Agencies