The Planning and Construction Committee of the Israeli occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved Tuesday, September 6, 2022  the establishment of a new settlement near  Beit Safafa*, to the southeast of Jerusalem.

 

The Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, reported that the settlement, called “Givat Hashaked”, is being built at the expense of Beit Safafa lands, which suffer from a large shortage of lands needed for construction.

 

The residents of Beit Safafa reported  that the purpose of establishing the settlement is  to prevent them from developing their own town and to hamper  them from building in the future.

 

The newspaper added that the settlement will be built on an area of 38 dunums and 700 housing units, a synagogue, a school and other places for entertainment.

The occupying forces initiated a broad campaign and made numerous threats in the middle of March, during which they destroyed property in the town of Beit Safafa to build a settlement on it and uprooted dozens of trees.

 

When the bulldozing work was first done, local sources said that it had exposed an archaeological site at the top of the town of Beit Safafa, where the occupation authorities planned to build the settlement.

 

*:Biet Safafa is a Palestinian town to the southeast of Jerusalem.