Israel will reportedly build more than 1,000 new homes in East Jerusalem as part of its ongoing ethnic cleansing program in the occupied territories. It comes amid the latest complaints by Palestinians that their homes have been illegally bulldozed.
Construction contracts for 300 homes in the northeastern
settlement of Ramot were signed, and another 797 land plots in
the much larger settlement of Gilo in Jerusalem were listed for
sale. Danny Seidemann, a director of the Jerusalem settlement
watchdog group Terrestrial Jerusalem, told AFP that the building
was quietly ordered last year by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
The housing project is certain
to draw the ire of the international community, which cites
international law nullifying Israel’s domain over the region,
which the country annexed after the 1967 Six-Day
war. Netanyahu has reportedly pushed the project under the
carpet temporarily so as not to impact US Secretary of State John
Kerry’s efforts to bridge peace talks between Israel and
Palestine.
The news of the land purchases
is said to have been leaked by Israeli Housing and Construction
Minister Uri Ariel in an effort to pressure the prime
minister.
“This does not mean that
the show is over, it does mean that Netanyahu’s minister of
construction is trying to achieve that,” Seidermann told the
AFP. “There is a de facto freeze at the moment, there have
been no new units since the elections. This is an attempt to
force Netanyahu’s hand.”
The leak coincides with news
that Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian homes in Beit
Hanina, in East Jerusalem. The destruction was closed off to
media and pedestrians but Badran al-Salameh, who owns the homes,
told the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency he was not given prior
notice of the demolition.
“My son’s wife and his two
kids were the only ones inside the house,” he said. “I
tried to reach my home when I heard from neighbors but Israeli
officers banned me. I wanted to take out my wife’s gold and money
from one of the drawers.”
The incident in question came
as a result of the Salameh family reportedly lacking Israeli
building permits, a justification Tel Aviv has used to
forecefully displace over 1,630 non-Jewish families since
1967.
Palestinian leaders have
demanded a halt to Israeli settlement construction before the
continuation of so-called peace talks, which have remained
stagnant for nearly three years. Despite Kerry’s four trips to
the region since being made Secretary of State, those close to
the situation say the instability is unlikely to be
resolved.
“Kerry is still unable to
put pressure on the Israeli government to meet its obligations
under the terms of the peace process,” Palestinian negotiator
Nabil Sha’ath told the Jerusalem Post Wednesday. “This is not
because Kerry does not want but because he is unable to exert
pressure on Israel. Israel is responsible for obstructing the
peace process.”
This article originally appeared on: RT