The Israeli government decided on Wednesday to postpone to an unknown date the discussion on a new settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank’s so-called E-1 area, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The area affected by the plan extends for 12 square kilometers and is located near the large illegal Jewish settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, near the occupied city of Jerusalem.
We welcome the Israeli govt’s indefinite postponement of all formal discussion on proposed new settlement construction in the highly sensitive E-1 area. We hope that this will ultimately prevent the highly dangerous project from ever moving forward. https://t.co/nNfhxflqz3
— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) January 5, 2022
In November, 26 US Democratic lawmakers called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to put pressure on Israel to stop the illegal settlement expansion, because the plan represented an “irreconcilable challenge to a lasting peace solution between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The US congress members described the expansion as a “doomsday settlement” because it would divide the northern and southern West Bank, completely isolating Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied West Bank.
Amid ongoing political instability in the United States, Israel is advancing "doomsday" settlements in East Jerusalem that would devastate prospects for a future peace deal.https://t.co/e0nvfjm05D
— +972 Magazine (@972mag) November 25, 2020
The Israeli government did not provide an explanation for the indefinite postponement, only stating that the decision was due to “the expert opinions of certain officials in the Civil Administration”.
All Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law.
(The Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
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