OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Israel’s district planning and building committee has deposited a plan to establish a new settlement named “Nofei Rachel” at the main entrance of Umm Tuba neighborhood, south of Occupied Jerusalem.
In a statement on Monday, the Jerusalem Governorate said that this intended Nofei Rachel settlement would cover some 27 dunums of land adjacent to Palestinian homes.
The Governorate warned that the project’s impact would extend far beyond the number of planned units, saying its location would directly affect the daily lives of Palestinians in the area.
It said the plan was part of an Israeli settlement policy aimed at restricting Palestinian presence and urban expansion in the area while expanding illegal settlements and creating new faits accomplis on the ground.
For its part, the Israeli rights group Ir Amim said on Monday that Israel had advanced three major settlement projects totaling more than 3,400 housing units in east Jerusalem in recent weeks.
