Israeli authorities have given preliminary approval to build 200 new illegal settler homes in east Jerusalem,
in a move that threatened to push Israelis and Palestinians deeper into
conflict after weeks of unrest over the city’s holiest sites.
The announcement on Wednesday came hours before US Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to arrive in neighbouring Jordan on a mission aimed in part at restoring calm.
Brachie
Sprung, a spokeswoman at the mayor’s office, said city officials
approved 200 settlement homes in the Ramot area. Sprung said it was just
a preliminary stage of the planning process, meaning construction would be years away. Continue...
She also said city officials approved an additional 174 homes for construction in an Arab neighbourhood.
Much
of the recent violence stemmed from tensions surrounding Jerusalem’s
hilltop complex that is revered by Muslims and Jews. The collapse of
US-brokered peace talks,
Israel’s war last summer in the Gaza Strip against Hamas, and continued
Israeli settlement construction in east Jerusalem have added to the
distrust.
About 200,000 Jewish Israelis live in settlement areas like Ramot that ring east Jerusalem to help cement Israeli control.
The
Israeli announcement came before Kerry’s scheduled meeting in Jordan
with King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss
the situation in Jerusalem. There was no immediate plan for Kerry to
travel to Israel.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington was “deeply concerned” by the decision.
“These
decisions to expand construction have the potential to exacerbate this
difficult situation on the ground, and they will not contribute to
efforts to reduce the tension,” she added.
Under
a longstanding arrangement, Jordan holds custodial rights over Muslim
holy sites in Jerusalem, including the compound known to Jews as the
Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
It
is the third-holiest site in Islam and the most sacred place in
Judaism. Jews are permitted to visit, but prayer by non-Muslims is
banned.
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