Israel has advanced plans for more than 3,400 illegal settlement units across three projects in occupied East Jerusalem in recent weeks, a rights group said Monday, amid efforts to expand Israeli control over the city.
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.
