Jerusalem to move ahead with dozens of new settler homes

FILE: East Jerusalem. (Photo: Madmartigand/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.)

JERUSALEM — The city of Jerusalem says it plans to move ahead with the construction of dozens of new settler homes in a predominantly Arab area of East Jerusalem.

The municipality said in a statement Sunday it plans to grant approval this week to 176 housing units in the Nof Zion neighborhood which abuts the Arab Jabel Mukaber area in the eastern sector of Jerusalem.

The city says the new homes will more than double the size of the current settlement, making it the largest Jewish settlement in the heart of an Arab area of East Jerusalem.

Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. It considers the city its eternal, undivided capital.

The Palestinians claim the city’s eastern sector as capital of their hoped-for state.