Israel issues tenders to build 1,839 settlement units in East Jerusalem

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israel has issued three tenders for building 1,839 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, an Israeli rights group said Thursday.

In a statement, Ir Amim organization said 500 units will be built in the Mount Scopus settlement, 1,039 in French Hill, or Givat Shapira, settlement, and 300 others in East Talpiot settlement.

The rights group warned that Tel Aviv is exploiting the world’s attention with the war in the Gaza Strip to advance its settlement plans in the occupied West Bank.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

Estimates indicate that about 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.

Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

International observers have said Israeli settlements are designed to preempt any attempt to form a geographically contiguous Palestinian state including the now-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar