New construction plans to advance de-facto annexation of Greater Jerusalem

13 Oct 2020

The Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration is scheduled to discuss this week numerous outline plans for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.  A number of these plans are located in strategic areas of what Israel calls "Greater Jerusalem". They include a total of more than 1,600 housing units. Advancement of plans of this scope in the Greater Jerusalem area is another clear sign that the Israeli government is continuing to actualize its strategy of de facto annexation. It follows a series of earlier Israeli moves this year which begun with the publishing of the Trump Plan in January.

The decision on formal annexation seems to have been set aside for the moment following the announcement of the normalization agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Nevertheless, since the announcement of the Trump Plan in January Israel has been taking significant steps on the ground to advance the de facto annexation of Greater Jerusalem along the lines laid out by the Trump Plan: In February, Israel advanced plans and tenders in E1, Givat Hamatos, and Har Homa E; plans which were designed to increase the detachment of East Jerusalem from the West Bank and further East Jerusalem’s engulfment by Israeli settlements. 

In June, the Civil Administration Advanced Huge Road Construction Plans, Pushing Forward the De-Facto Annexation of Greater Jerusalem, Including its Fourth Settlement Bloc. These plans will further fragment the Palestinian space around Jerusalem and will seriously infringe upon the human rights of the Palestinian communities that live there.

Now, in the wake of the normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain, more plans are to be advanced. These are in and around the settlements comprising Greater Jerusalem, further consolidating Israeli contiguity, fragmenting the Palestinian space and consigning both Israelis and Palestinians to a growing, irreversible, apartheid reality.

List of Outline Plans
Usually Ir Amim only monitors settlements in East Jerusalem (with the exception of E1 and Har Gilo). Due to the significance of the current development, we list here all of the plans in Greater Jerusalem to be advanced this week. This list does not include the outline plans in other areas of the West Bank that are also scheduled to be advanced this week.

 

 
The map below shows the areas in Greater Jerusalem marked for Israeli annexation in the Trump Plan. The settlements where outline plans are being advanced this week are marked by black circles around them.