JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities were set Sunday to discuss granting building permits that would create the largest Israeli settlement inside a Palestinian neighborhood, a watchdog group said.
Jerusalem city council’s planning and construction committee was to examine issuing building permits for a settlement in the occupied east Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, the Peace Now NGO said.
Committee members said Sunday the committee meeting was ongoing and they could not yet provide further details.
The permits would allow for an expansion of the Nof Zion settlement to add 176 housing units on top of the existing 91 units.
Plans for the new units have already been approved and the issuing of building permits is the last major bureaucratic step.
Peace Now and other settlement watchdogs say the approvals would make Nof Zion the largest Israeli settlement inside any Palestinian neighborhood.
Most settlements, particularly in the occupied West Bank, are located outside of Palestinian residential areas.
“Within east Jerusalem, it’s a very serious development,” Peace Now spokeswoman Anat Ben Nun told AFP.
“It’s indicative of a trend that we’re seeing of settlement expansion inside Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.”
Israel occupied east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
It sees the entire city as its undivided capital, while the Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.
The Israeli government has announced several settlement expansions since US President Donald Trump took office.
Trump has been far less critical of Israeli settlement expansion than his predecessor Barack Obama.
Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major stumbling blocks to peace as they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.
Jerusalem’s status is ultra-sensitive and central to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Settlement watchdogs and Palestinians accuse far-right Israeli groups of pushing for settlements in east Jerusalem to ensure the city can never be divided.
Sunday’s meeting comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves for the first ever Latin American trip by a sitting Israeli premier, followed by his annual appearance at the UN General Assembly.
He is due to visit Argentina, Colombia and Mexico before continuing to New York.
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The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month, signalling great tension in the country. The recent protests are widely seen as one of the biggest challenges facing Saied since he began ruling by decree in 2021.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “We want to live” and “People want to dismantle polluting units,” as they marched toward Chatt Essalam, a coastal suburb north of the city where the Chemical Group’s industrial units are located.
“The chemical plant is a fully fledged crime... We refuse to pass on an environmental disaster to our children, and we are determined to stick to our demand,” said Safouan Kbibieh, a local environmental activist.
Residents say toxic emissions from the phosphate complex have led to higher rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, while industrial waste continues to be discharged into the sea, damaging marine life and livelihoods.
The protests in Gabes were reignited after hundreds of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties in recent months, allegedly caused by toxic fumes from a plant converting phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers.
In October, Saied described the situation in Gabes as an “environmental assassination”, blaming policy choices made by previous governments, and has called for urgent maintenance to prevent toxic leaks.
The protesters reject the temporary measures and are demanding the permanent closure and relocation of the plant.
Israel mulls expansion of settlement in east Jerusalem
Israel mulls expansion of settlement in east Jerusalem
Tunisians revive protests in Gabes over pollution from state chemical plant
- People chanted mainly “Gabes wants to live“
- The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month
TUNIS: Around 2,500 Tunisians marched through the coastal city of Gabes on Wednesday, reviving protests over pollution from a state-owned phosphate complex amid rising anger over perceived failures to protect public health.
People chanted mainly “Gabes wants to live,” on the 15th anniversary of the start of the 2011 pro-democracy uprising that sparked the Arab Spring movement against autocracy.
The protest added to the pressure on President Kais Saied’s government, which is grappling with a deep financial crisis and growing street unrest, protests by doctors, journalists, banks and public transport systems.
The powerful UGTT union has called for a nationwide strike next month, signalling great tension in the country. The recent protests are widely seen as one of the biggest challenges facing Saied since he began ruling by decree in 2021.
Protesters chanted slogans such as “We want to live” and “People want to dismantle polluting units,” as they marched toward Chatt Essalam, a coastal suburb north of the city where the Chemical Group’s industrial units are located.
“The chemical plant is a fully fledged crime... We refuse to pass on an environmental disaster to our children, and we are determined to stick to our demand,” said Safouan Kbibieh, a local environmental activist.
Residents say toxic emissions from the phosphate complex have led to higher rates of respiratory illnesses, osteoporosis and cancer, while industrial waste continues to be discharged into the sea, damaging marine life and livelihoods.
The protests in Gabes were reignited after hundreds of schoolchildren suffered breathing difficulties in recent months, allegedly caused by toxic fumes from a plant converting phosphates into phosphoric acid and fertilizers.
In October, Saied described the situation in Gabes as an “environmental assassination”, blaming policy choices made by previous governments, and has called for urgent maintenance to prevent toxic leaks.
The protesters reject the temporary measures and are demanding the permanent closure and relocation of the plant.
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