OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The Hamas Movement has warned that a new Israeli settlement plan targeting the lands of the former Qalandiya (Jerusalem International) Airport north of occupied Jerusalem constitutes a direct assault on the city and its Islamic holy sites, as Israeli authorities push forward with plans to build around 9,000 settlement units in the area.
Haroun Nasser al-Din, a member of Hamas’s political bureau and head of its Jerusalem Affairs Office, said the settlement scheme forms part of an escalating Judaization drive aimed at imposing new facts on the ground and consolidating Israeli control over Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
He stressed that the plan coincides with provocative settler actions, including the installation and lighting of a Hanukkah menorah near Bab al-Qattanin, one of the historic gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque, during incursions into the Buraq Wall area, under the full protection of Israeli police forces.
According to Nasser al-Din, these measures fall within a systematic Israeli policy that exploits so-called religious holidays to impose Judaizing realities in and around al-Aqsa, alter its religious and historical character, and enforce Israeli sovereignty by force, in blatant violation of international law and UN resolutions.
The settlement project, which targets privately owned Palestinian land, would establish a massive settlement bloc of approximately 9,000 housing units, severing the geographical and demographic continuity between Jerusalem and Ramallah. The area lies at the heart of a densely populated Palestinian urban zone encompassing Kafr Aqab, Qalandiya, al-Ram, Beit Hanina, and Bir Nabala, making the project a direct threat to the Palestinian urban fabric north of Jerusalem.
Israeli planning bodies are expected to discuss the scheme on Wednesday, 17 December, including provisions for commercial and public spaces serving the settlement. In parallel, the Israeli finance ministry has sought approval to transfer 16 million shekels to “rehabilitate contaminated land” at the airport site, a move widely seen as paving the way for accelerated settlement construction.
Palestinian experts warn that implementing the plan would create a large settlement enclave that deepens the isolation of northern Jerusalem, entrenches the fragmentation of the city, and reinforces a system of forced segregation imposed on Palestinians.
Nasser al-Din cautioned that continued settlement expansion, incursions, assaults on worshippers, and the imposition of Talmudic rituals around al-Aqsa would have grave consequences, holding the occupation fully responsible for the fallout of its actions. He said policies rooted in religious provocation and racism risk igniting widespread anger and confrontation.
He called on Arab and Islamic nations, as well as free people around the world, to assume their responsibilities in defending Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque, work seriously to halt Judaization policies and incursions, and protect Islam’s first qibla from escalating dangers.
Nasser al-Din reaffirmed that the Palestinian people will remain steadfast in Jerusalem, clinging to their rights and holy sites, and that these violations will grant the occupation no legitimacy over Palestinian land or sacred places, nor alter the Arab and Islamic identity of al-Aqsa Mosque, regardless of how long the aggression continues.
