With the support of the American administration, the Israeli occupation announced new Israeli settlement plans south and northeast of the occupied city of Jerusalem.

The National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance of the Palestine Liberation Organization stated in a report published today, Saturday, February 4, 2023, that two days after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited occupied Jerusalem, the Israeli occupation announced two settlement plans south of Jerusalem.

This is a new violation of international resolutions that confirm the illegality of Israeli settlements, foremost of which is Security Council Resolution No. 2334 of 2016.

The first plan includes the establishment of 1,070 settlement units on Palestinian lands in the Al-Thawri neighborhood and parts of the towns of Jabal Al Mukaber and Sur Baher in Jerusalem.

As for the second plan, it includes the establishment of 160 settlement units in a settlement built near Al-Quds-Hebron Street.

The report indicated that the Israeli occupation seized more than 500 dunums between the towns of Hizma and Jaba, northeast of Jerusalem, to expand an Israeli settlement road.

The report indicated that the occupation authorities handed the Palestinian owners of 13 houses in the town of Jabal al-Mukabber in Jerusalem notices to demolish them during the next few days, as part of a systematic plan to displace the town’s residents.

In response, the Palestinians carried out a comprehensive strike in the town, refusing to demolish the houses, forcing the Israeli occupation, under the pressure of campaigns organized by the Palestinians and international pressure, to postpone the implementation of the demolition until next June.

The report stated that the occupation forces demolished a house in the town of Jabal al-Mukaber and two commercial establishments in the towns of Silwan and Sur Baher in Jerusalem, and two houses in the towns of Al-Walaja and Beit Jala in Ramallah.

In addition, it handed over notices to demolish four Palestinian homes and two agricultural establishments in the town of Yatta in Hebron.

The report indicated that international human rights organizations have confirmed that these continuous repressive measures and practices amount to a war crime, in addition to the two crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution, calling on the occupation to end this apartheid system.