JERUSALEM: Israeli municipal authorities on Wednesday approved the construction of a three-story residential building for Jewish settlers in a Palestinian neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Jews, armed or protected by Israeli security forces, already live among 50,000 Palestinians in the Silwan neighborhood. Pro-settlement groups have been seeking to reclaim property there that was under Jewish ownership in the 19th century.
Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization, condemned the Jerusalem municipality’s decision.
“This government is moving forward to implement its program to bring Israeli settlers and settle them in the place of the Palestinian residents to change the demographic situation in the Holy City,” Abu Yousef told Reuters.
Israel captured East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and considers all of Jerusalem its indivisible capital, a claim that has not won international recognition.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and fear that Israeli settlements — regarded by most countries as illegal — will deny them a viable country.
Israel’s anti-settlement Peace Now group said Palestinians who live next to the site where the new dwelling is to be built plan to appeal against city hall’s move. The plot was previously administered by an Israeli government agency which sold it to settlers.
In a statement after the building permit was issued, the Jerusalem municipality said the city was “united and any resident can live wherever he or she pleases.”
The United States and many other countries have urged Israel not to expand Jewish settlement on land Palestinians want for a state. Citing historical and religious ties, and security needs, Israel says it intends to hold on to all of Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank in any future peace deal.
(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller)
Outrage as Israel OKs new settler homes in East Jerusalem
Outrage as Israel OKs new settler homes in East Jerusalem
US senator urges military action if Hamas, Hezbollah remained armed
- Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators urged Hamas and Israel to uphold Gaza ceasefire
- The 2nd phase of the Gaza truce envisages the demilitarization of the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas
JERUSALEM: US Senator Lindsey Graham called on Sunday for renewed military action against Hamas and Hezbollah if they fail to disarm and accused the Palestinian Islamist group of consolidating its power in Gaza.
The Republican politician, on a visit to Israel, is a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump.
Beginning in October, a fragile ceasefire has so far halted two years of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip despite both sides trading accusations of truce violations.
A separate ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah also came into effect in November 2024 after more than a year of hostilities, though Israel continues to carry out strikes on Lebanese territory.
Israel has made dismantling the arsenals of both groups, allies of its arch-foe Iran, a key condition for any lasting peace.
“It’s imperative we come up with a plan quickly, put Hamas on a time clock, give them a period of time to achieve the goal of disarmament,” Graham said at a press conference during his visit.
“And if you don’t, I would encourage President Trump to unleash Israel to go finish off Hamas.”
“It’s a long, brutal war, but you cannot be successful anywhere in the region until you deliver in dealing Hamas out of the future of Gaza and disarming them,” Graham added, insisting that the second stage of the truce would fail if Hamas remains armed.
“Ninety days after the ceasefire, they are consolidating power in Gaza,” Graham said.
He also called for military engagement against Hezbollah if it too does not surrender its weapons.
“If Hezbollah refuses to give up their heavy weapons, down the road we should engage in military operations working with Lebanon, Israel and the United States, where we fly with Israel... to take Hezbollah out,” Graham said.
-- Opposition to Turkiye --
The Lebanese government has begun to disarm Hezbollah, starting in the country’s south, and insists it will complete the plan.
Israel, however, has questioned the effectiveness of the Lebanese military, and Hezbollah itself has repeatedly refused to lay down its weapons.
Graham’s remarks came a day after mediators the United States, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye urged both sides in the Gaza war to uphold the ceasefire.
The mediators are pressing for the implementation of the second phase of the truce, which would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the deployment of an international stabilization force and the establishment of an interim authority to govern the territory in place of Hamas.
The second phase of the Gaza truce also envisages the demilitarization of the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas.
Graham backed Israel’s opposition to Turkiye being included in the stabilization force, saying it would “rock Israel to its core.”
“There is no political support anywhere in Israel for having Turkiye being involved in the stabilising force,” he said.
Hamas, meanwhile, has called on the mediators and Washington to stop Israeli “violations” of the ceasefire in Gaza.
On Sunday, Israeli artillery shelling was reported in several parts of Gaza’s southern area of Khan Yunis, according to the civil defense agency, which operates under the authority of Hamas.
On Friday, six people, including two children, were killed in an Israeli bombing of a school serving as a shelter for displaced people, according to the agency.
