Israeli authorities plan to implement a new settlement project in the Qalandiya area, north of occupied East Jerusalem, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
According to Israeli anti-settlement movement Peace Now, the plan, which will be implemented in December 2021, is for 9,000 housing units to be built at the abandoned site of the Al-Quds International Airport.
“This is a very dangerous plan, which might bring a dangerous blow to the two-state solution,” Peace Now said in a statement. “The government must remove the plan from the agenda immediately and shelve it.”
The proposed #settlement plan covers the abandoned site of Jerusalem International Airport (Atarot Airport) which was first opened in 1924 as the first airport in the British Mandate for Palestine. https://t.co/wf2RUoQ92e
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 8, 2021
If implemented, this would be the first new settlement in East Jerusalem since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government built the Har Homa settlement in 1997, according to Peace Now.
Under international law, Jewish settlements constructed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories constitute a violation of international law and are considered illegal.
(The Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
