Israel to build 1,600 illegal settler units in East al-Quds

Israel has announced that it plans to construct 1,600 new illegal settlement units in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), which was annexed by Tel Aviv following the Six-Day War of 1967, in violation of international law.

Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said on Monday that the 1,600 settlement units first announced in March 2010 would be built in the East al-Quds neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo, AFP reported.

"In the next two weeks, the Interior Ministry's district committee for Jerusalem (al-Quds) will convene to discuss the objections to the program that was approved for deposit over two years ago," Orbach said.

"The committee will then have to decide which of the objections -- if any -- it accepts, and make changes accordingly," she added.

On November 30, Israel approved a plan to build 3,000 more units in East al-Quds and the occupied West Bank.

Many countries, including some of Tel Aviv’s allies, have condemned the Israeli plans to construct illegal settler units in the occupied Palestinian territories. [link to www.presstv.ir]