The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday approved plans for the construction of more than 3557 settler housing units in east Jerusalem according to Peace Now an anti-settlement monitoring group.
Peace Now said the construction of these settler homes would largely cut off the city from the southern part of the occupied West Bank further complicating any efforts to create a functioning Palestinian state.
The projects were approved by a municipal committee and will be considered by a district committee on January 17.
However it would likely be years before any construction takes place but Peace Now says once the approval process is underway it becomes increasingly difficult to freeze the plans.
One plan would build 1465 housing units between the illegal settlements of Givat Hamatos and Har Homa further cutting off east Jerusalem from the Palestinian city of Bethlehem and the southern West Bank. Another 2092 homes would be built elsewhere in east Jerusalem.
