Israel plans to expand Gilo settlement in southwestern East Jerusalem with 2,300 houses
LONDON: Israel plans to expand its Gilo settlement in southwestern East Jerusalem by building an additional 2,300 houses, further isolating East Jerusalem from Bethlehem in the south of the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli Jerusalem Municipality’s Planning and Building Committee intends to construct the properties on a 200,000 sq. meter site at the settlement, which was established in 1971 along a vital road leading south to Bethlehem and Hebron.
The planned expansion was first reported by Ir Amim, an Israeli nonprofit organization that monitors Tel Aviv’s policies in Jerusalem. It forms part of wider settlement-expansion activity in the area, including at Givat Hamatos and Har Homa, which are situated on the eastern and western sides of Hebron Road.
The Palestinian Authority warned that the plan seeks to create a new reality on the ground that geographically separates East Jerusalem from the southern West Bank, and further hinders the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
