The Israeli government has advanced three major illegal settlement projects in East Jerusalem within a few weeks, involving more than 3,400 units, in an effort to strengthen Israeli control over the occupied city, an Israeli rights group said Monday.
Ir Amim, an Israeli organization focused on East Jerusalem, said in a statement that Israeli authorities had advanced the three projects, less than three months before legislative elections scheduled for Oct. 27.
The organization said the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee last month deposited a plan for a new illegal settlement of about 650 housing units in the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Tuba.
The committee also approved two other plans: one for a new illegal settlement of about 450 housing units in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Lison, and another to expand the Gilo illegal settlement by more than 2,300 housing units.
Umm Tuba, Umm Lison and Gilo are located in southern East Jerusalem.
