Israeli construction plan to encircle Jerusalem
The Jerusalem municipality has moved forward on 540 new housing units in the controversial Har Homa neighborhood across the Green Line, a plan that will encircle Jerusalem on three sides.
Jerusalem’s Local Planning Committee has approved several plans for construction of new homes in the west and the east of the city. But one plan in particular irked leftist and anti-occupation groups: 540 new housing units to be built in the Har Homa neighborhood in the southeast of Jerusalem, beyond the Green Line.
The new plan includes two 30-floor towers, three buildings 12 floors tall, a large public green space, a new road, spaces designated for future public buildings and another open space for the preservation of an ancient aqueduct. The so-called Har Homa E area is an extension of the existing Har Homa neighborhood toward another Jewish neighborhood in the area called Givat Hamatos.
At present, Givat Hamatos is an area of mobile homes and caravans, but this could change in the near future. Last January, contracts were awarded for the construction of some 1,200 housing units there. These plans were also discussed at the April 7 Local Planning Committee meeting.
If both plans are realized, Israel will achieve territorial continuity in the southeast of Jerusalem, effectively cutting off the West Bank from east Jerusalem. The Palestinian neighborhood Beit Safafa, located to the west of Givat Hamatos, will be isolated from other Palestinian neighborhoods to the east and from Palestinian Bethlehem in the south.
