Israel considering plan for 3,000 new colonial housing units in West Bank

TEL AVIV: The Israeli government is pushing ahead with a plan to build more than 3,000 new housing units in the Israeli colonies of the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli media reported on Friday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a session to discuss advancing the construction of thousands of housing units in the Israeli colony of Ma'ale Adumim, built on stolen Palestinian lands east of occupied Jerusalem. The session was attended by War Minister Yoav Gallant, ultranationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. According to the reports, the Israeli government plans to invite the so-called Higher Planning Council to hold a session in the next two weeks to approve the new colonial plan. The plan includes the construction of 2,350 settlement units in the Ma'ale Adumim colony, 300 units in the Kedar colony, built on Palestinian lands southeast of occupied Jerusalem, and 694 units in the Efrat colony, built on Palestinian lands so uth of occupied Jerusalem. A report released last month by the Israeli human rights group Peace Now documented a rise in colonial activity in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in October last year. The report pointed out the establishment of nine new colonial outposts in about three months, in addition to 18 illegal colonist-only roads. It also highlighted the closure of roads by colonists and the restriction on Palestinian movement. The report confirmed that a significant portion of these outposts and roads were established on private Palestinian land. Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA