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<h1 class="article-title">Ministry of Housing's Plans Exposed</h1>
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<span class="article-details">
<span class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part1.07070902.06000308@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> Thursday December 31, 2015 00:24</span><span
class="article-detail"><img class="icon"
src="cid:part2.07080202.03070709@freedomarchives.org"
alt="author"> by Amanda Edmonton - Alternative Information
Center</span></span><br>
<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.imemc.org/article/74403">http://www.imemc.org/article/74403</a></small></small></small></b><br>
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<blockquote class="article-intro">Documents obtained by Peace Now
indicate that the Ministry of Housing (MOH) has plans to construct
53,548 residential units in illegal settlements. The plans are
valued at over 330 million shackles. </blockquote>
3,786 units are slated for immediate construction, 64%, of which are
to be east of the separation barrier.<br>
<br>
These plans also include 8,372 units in the E-1 area, an area on
Jerusalem’s periphery.<br>
<br>
Plans for settlement construction in the E-1 area have long been
halted due to international pressure. Settlement construction in the
E-1 area would require the forced displacement of over 2,000
Bedouins and rule out the possibility of a geographically contiguous
Palestinian state by severing the West Bank into two.<br>
<br>
The MOH has its sights on other areas of Jerusalem too: Peace Now
revealed plans for a new neighborhood in Atarot, involving the
construction of 10,000 units between Beit Hanina and Ramallah. Har
Homa is planned also to expand by 2,000 units. In the Old City, the
MOH intends to add 21 units in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.<br>
<br>
In addition to expansion, the MOH is plotting the construction of
two brand new settlements in the West Bank – Givat Eitam (in
a-Nahla, south of Bethlehem) and Bitronot/Brosh (in the northern
Jordan Valley).<br>
<br>
The MOH also seeks to recognize at least six settlement outposts,
which, as of now, are even unrecognized by the Israeli government.<br>
<br>
These plans directly contradict Israeli officials’ statements
regarding settlement construction.<br>
<br>
In October 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled
the MOH’s plans to construct 24,000 units in the West Bank,
including the E-1 area, in response to international scrutiny.<br>
<br>
Peace Now found that in November 2014, the MOH, without any notice,
hired architects to work on many of the cancelled plans.<br>
<br>
In response to Peace Now’s report, the Prime Minister’s Office
focused on the E-1 area, saying that plans to build in E-1 were
drafted as the private initiative of Minister of Agriculture Uri
Ariel, “without the required authorization,” and thus have “no
validity.”<br>
<br>
According to the Palestinian News and Info Agency, the MOH has said
that it “acts only according to approved plans and based on the
decisions of the government and the Prime Minister.”<br>
<br>
Peace Now’s report also shed light on the MOH’s activities in past
years.<br>
<br>
Between 2012 and 2015, Peace Now found that the MOH funded the
construction of at least 4,054 housing units, 70% of which were east
of the separation barrier.<br>
<br>
One expansion projects was for the Beit Romano settlement, which
sits in the heart of Hebron. Peace Now reported that the MOH gave it
1 million NIS to expand.<br>
<br>
Moreover, the MOH gave at least 1.8 million NIS in recent years to
local settlement authorities to entice Israelis to relocate to
settlements.<br>
<br>
Revelations about Israeli authorities’ intentions for settlement
construction come as the Israeli government continues to confiscate
Palestinian land.<br>
<br>
On Tuesday, Israeli authorities <a
href="http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=30289"
target="_blank">issued a military order</a> to confiscate 500
dunams (500,000 square meters) of Palestinian land located south of
Nablus. That same day, Israeli authorities <a
href="http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=30293"
target="_blank">issued another military order</a> to confiscate
370 square meters of private Palestinian land along the
Hebron-Jerusalem road.
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