OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The so-called Israeli District Planning and Building Committee has submitted a plan to establish a new settlement named “Nofei Rachel” at the main entrance to the Um Tuba neighborhood, south of Jerusalem.
The plan includes the construction of around 650 settlement units on an area estimated at 27 dunums, directly adjacent to residents’ homes. Palestinian sources warn that the project would isolate the neighborhood and cut off its urban expansion.
The plan comes as part of Israel’s continued settlement expansion around Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem through land confiscation, the alteration of Palestinian areas and the imposition of a new urban reality serving settlement growth.
The construction of the new settlement units would further tighten pressure on residents of Um Tuba and restrict the neighborhood’s natural growth, as Israel continues plans aimed at entrenching settlements and deepening the separation of Palestinian neighborhoods from one another.
