Occupied Palestine – The Israeli Supreme Court has green-lighted the construction of a new settlement complex in the heart of the city of Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli newspaper of Yedioth Ahronoth said that the court rejected a petition against the complex filed by the left-wing group Peace Now and the Palestinian-run Hebron Municipality and ordered both plaintiffs to pay a combined total of NIS 20,000 in court costs.
It added that the new complex includes the construction of a 31-unit six-storey settler apartment, pointing out that it is part of a larger plan that includes building 60 settlement units in the wholesale market area in Hebron.
The Israeli newspaper indicated that work on the scheme began several years ago before it was temporarily frozen, but the court’s decision is the last legal hurdle for expanding the Jewish neighborhood.
Meanwhile, the left-wing group Peace Now called on the Israeli government to intervene and to halt the construction of the complex, which already began in October of last year.
The complex is one of the “uglier faces of Israeli control of the territories.
“Building a new settlement in the heart of Hebron will be greatly damaging to ‘Israel’ and completely contradicts the government’s guidelines,” Peace Now stated.
