Israeli military bulldozers started Thursday morning razing Palestinian-owned lands in Shuafat and Beit Hanina villages in occupied Jerusalem as a prelude to expand the illegal settlement Ramat Shlomo.
According to the new expansion plan 690 houses will be built in Ramat Shlomo.
Head of Shuafat village council Isehaq Said told the PIC reporter that Israeli occupation authorities confiscated large portions of land west of Shuafat and Beit Hanina villages with the aim of expanding the illegal settlement.
The confiscation of new lands in the two Palestinian villages led to a severe lack of agricultural land for local farmers and distorted the beautiful landscape he pointed out.
He said that Israeli settlement expansion has been growing at the expense of the two villages’ lands despite the Israeli claims of postponing settlement construction Said added.
Israeli decision to postpone settlement projects is only an attempt to manipulate the US administration according to his statement.
Israel’s construction of settlements in occupied Jerusalem which Palestinians seek as their future capital and other Palestinian territories is illegal under international law.
Israel’s refusal to cease settlement-building activities has been widely condemned as an obstacle to achieving lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
