30 Dec 2019; MEMO: The Israeli Civil Administration is set this week to approve the construction of 2,000 new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, Haaretz revealed on Sunday.
The Civil Administration is the Israeli occupation body operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The 2,000 new settlement units will be built in isolated settlements.
The approval, according to Haaretz, came in line with the recent remarks made by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he announced that he would “soon approve 3,000 new settlement units.”
Netanyahu also added that he would soon announce the annexing of the Jordan Valley and would obtain US backing for the annexation of the West Bank settlements.
In a recent report, the United Nations (UN) revealed that Israel built or approved the construction of 10,000 new settlement units in the occupied territories in 2019, much more than the number during the two previous years, which reached 6,800.
According to the report, “Since 2016, more than 22,000 new settlement units have been built or approved in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.” The report also noted that bids for building 8,000 units have also been issued.
Israeli settlement in the occupied territories is deemed illegal according to international law, and contradicts all the UN resolutions.
The UN Security Council, in 2017, issued a resolution iterating that the Israeli settlements are illegal and called for an immediate halt of construction. The resolution stated that the settlements constitute “flagrant violation” of international laws and conventions.
