JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities on Monday advanced a plan to build nearly 500 homes in a new settlement in east Jerusalem that rights groups say will further sever it from the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.
The planned Givat HaShaked settlement is part of a cluster of settlements on the southern edge of east Jerusalem, many of which have already been built up into full-fledged residential neighborhoods. Critics say they further undermine any hopes for a two-state solution.
Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group that closely follows developments in Jerusalem, said the plan for the settlement was approved on Monday to be deposited for objections, a key step in a bureaucratic process that could continue for months or years before construction begins.
There was no immediate comment from the Jerusalem municipality. City officials, who consider the settlements to be ordinary Jewish neighborhoods, have previously said they are committed to building in all areas of Jerusalem for the benefit of Jewish and Arab residents.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and has built settlements across both territories that are now home to some 700,000 Jewish settlers. The Palestinians want both territories to form part of their future state and view the settlements as the biggest obstacle to peace. Most countries consider the settlements to be illegal.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by the international community and considers the entire city its unified capital. Palestinian residents of the city face systematic discrimination, especially when it comes to urban planning, making it extremely difficult for them to build new homes or expand existing ones.
The US and other Western countries have pressed Israel to rein in settlements, with little success. Israel’s outgoing government, which included dovish parties and even an Arab faction, approved the construction of thousands of settler homes despite US objections.
The latest settlement will be built adjacent to the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa, which is already mostly encircled by settlements, further preventing its growth.
“While there’s constant investment, robust development for Israelis, there’s a complete suppression of urban planning (for Palestinians), which ultimately serves as a mechanism of displacement for Palestinians because it pushes them out of the city,” said Amy Cohen, the director of advocacy for Ir Amim. “They have no means to build or expand their neighborhoods.”
Israel advances plans for another east Jerusalem settlement
https://arab.news/yrggk
Israel advances plans for another east Jerusalem settlement
- The planned Givat HaShaked settlement is part of a cluster of settlements on the southern edge of east Jerusalem, many of which have already been built up into residential neighborhoods
- Palestinian residents of the city face systematic discrimination, especially when it comes to urban planning, making it extremely difficult for them to build new homes or expand existing ones
UN rights chief Shocked by ‘unbearable’ Darfur atrocities
- Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur
PORT SUDAN: Nearly three years of war have put the Sudanese people through “hell,” the UN’s rights chief said on Sunday, blasting the vast sums spent on advanced weaponry at the expense of humanitarian aid and the recruitment of child soldiers.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by a conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces that has left tens of thousands of people dead and around 11 million displaced.
Speaking in Port Sudan during his first wartime visit, UN Human Rights commissioner Volker Turk said the population had endured “horror and hell,” calling it “despicable” that funds that “should be used to alleviate the suffering of the population” are instead spent on advanced weapons, particularly drones.
More than 21 million people are facing acute food insecurity, and two-thirds of Sudan’s population is in urgent need of humanitarian aid, according to the UN.
In addition to the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis, Sudan is also facing “the increasing militarization of society by all parties to the conflict, including through the arming of civilians and recruitment and use of children,” Turk added.
He said he had heard testimony of “unbearable” atrocities from survivors of attacks in Darfur, and warned of similar crimes unfolding in the Kordofan region — the current epicenter of the fighting.
Testimony of these atrocities must be heard by “the commanders of this conflict and those who are arming, funding and profiting from this war,” he said.
Mediation efforts have failed to produce a ceasefire, even after international outrage intensified last year with reports of mass killings, rape, and abductions during the RSF’s takeover of El-Fasher in Darfur.
“We must ensure that the perpetrators of these horrific violations face justice regardless of the affiliation,” Turk said on Sunday, adding that repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure could constitute “war crimes.”
He called on both sides to “cease intolerable attacks against civilian objects that are indispensable to the civilian population, including markets, health facilities, schools and shelters.”
Turk again warned on Sunday that crimes similar to those seen in El-Fasher could recur in volatile Kordofan, where the RSF has advanced, besieging and attacking several key cities.
Hundreds of thousands face starvation across the region, where more than 65,000 people have been displaced since October, according to the latest UN figures.
