Israeli Authorities Approve 450 Settlement Housing Units in Umm Lison, Occupied East Jerusalem

Israeli authorities advanced a plan to establish a large settlement neighborhood inside the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Lison in occupied East Jerusalem, with the Ir Amim organization warning that the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved building about 450 settlement housing units.

Anadolu Ajansı said the project in Umm Lison was frozen for more than two years due to infrastructure-related obstacles, and it described Umm Lison as lying between Jabal al-Mukabber and Sur Baher while currently including around 800 Palestinian housing units.

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WAFA said the plan was numbered “1049873,” submitted in 2022 by the Topodia company, and that the approval process remained stalled for more than two years after the District Committee required expansion of the road leading to the project site.

WAFA added that the new plan calls for buildings of up to 10 floors and the addition of around 450 settlement housing units, which it said would significantly alter the neighborhood’s urban character and demographic composition.

Ir Amim warned the project could house around 2,000 Israeli occupiers, increasing friction with Palestinian residents and undermining stability in the area.

The United Nations threatened to take action before the International Court of Justice in The Hague over an Israeli settlement plan to build facilities for the occupation on the ruins of the UNRWA complex in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, east of occupied Jerusalem.

samanews.ps said Israeli media revealed that the UN sent a new letter to Tel Aviv in which it threatened to take action before the International Court of Justice, and it reported that the UN’s Office of Legal Affairs sent a strongly worded letter after Israel’s decision issued on May 17.

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The same source said the UN asserted that Israel’s decision constitutes an escalation, and it warned again of the possibility of activating Article 30 of the Convention to transfer legal disputes to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

samanews.ps also quoted Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responding to the threats by saying: "The United Nations has completely lost touch with reality, and is attempting to intimidate Israel".

It added that Danon said, "Legal threats will not deter us, and we will exercise our sovereignty in Jerusalem."

A separate dispute over Israeli settlement plans in the occupied West Bank centered on the so-called E1 project, described as threatening to "bury the idea of a Palestinian state," and aimed at building 3,401 housing units between East Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement.

BBC reported that the E1 project had been frozen for decades amid strong opposition, and it said the far-right Israeli Finance Minister supported the project, calling the decision a 'historic milestone.'

The BBC said the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the project as 'an extension of genocidal crimes, displacement and annexation,' while the UN, the EU, and countries including the United Kingdom and Turkey criticized the E1 settlement project and called for its halt.

It also reported that Peace Now said the new housing would represent a 33% increase in the size of Maale Adumim, which currently houses about 38,000 residents.

The BBC added that the final approval hearing for the E1 settlement plan would be held next Wednesday before a technical committee that has already rejected all objections to the proposals.