Israeli Authorities Approve 'Or Somayach' Jewish Religious School in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem

Israeli authorities approved the establishment of a hardline Jewish religious school in the heart of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem, a project described as a settlement instrument rather than a purely educational building.

“In a move heralding a radical change in the face of the occupied city of Jerusalem, Israeli authorities officially approved the establishment of a hardline Jewish religious school in the heart of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem”

Al-Jazeera Net

The plan is named 'Or Somayach' and is described as comprising 11 floors to house hundreds of settlers in one of the most geopolitically sensitive areas.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Al-Jazeera Net report says the Israeli planning committee officially approved the plan on Monday, after objections were submitted by the left-wing Israeli organization 'Ir Amim' together with the Sheikh Jarrah Community Association and were rejected.

It adds that the project will include housing for hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish students, as well as housing for members of the teaching staff.

The project is described as covering an area of 5 dunams (the dunam equals 1,000 square meters) along the southern entrance to the Palestinian neighborhood, directly opposite the Sheikh Jarrah Mosque.

The Middle East Monitor similarly says the plan was approved by a Jerusalem district planning committee and identifies the yeshiva as “Ohr Somayach,” describing it as an 11-story building with housing for hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish students and residential units for faculty members.

The Arab News report frames the same approval as a Palestinian Authority warning, saying the 11-story school would occupy an area of 5,000 sq. meters on a site opposite Sheikh Jarrah Mosque and include dormitories for hundreds of ultra-Orthodox students and housing for staff.

Multiple reports connect the school approval to a longer chain of land transfers and legal changes that Palestinian-aligned rights groups say enabled the project.

Al-Jazeera Net says the land's original plan allocated it for the construction of buildings and public educational institutions to serve residents, but that the municipality relinquished it in 2007 in favor of the Israel Land Authority to change its use and legalize construction of a Jewish religious school (yeshiva).

Middle East Monitor

It adds that the land was transferred to 'Or Somayach' without any transparent bidding procedures, prompting the rights organization to submit the plan to build the Jewish religious school.

The same report says the land's location near settlement outposts threatens dozens of Palestinian families with eviction and settlers seizing their homes.

The Middle East Monitor describes a similar sequence, saying the land had originally been designated for public use, including educational facilities, but in 2007 the municipality transferred it to the Israel Land Authority to allocate it for the construction of a religious school.

It further says the land was later handed over to the Ohr Somayach institutions without a transparent tender process, and that the current construction plan advanced from there.

Arab News places the site in a specific historical geography, saying the site is currently used as a parking lot near the “Green Line” that served as an armistice boundary when Israeli and Arab forces reached an impasse in their 1948 war, and it identifies the location as on Pierre van Paassen Street, close to Road 60, which divides the eastern and western sides of Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials and rights-aligned organizations condemned the approval as part of a broader policy of Judaization and as a violation of international law.

“Creating new perspectives since 2009 April 24, 2026 at 9:36 pm A group of Palestinians, and activists supporting them demonstrate against Israel’s illegal settlement and expulsion policies in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem on September 08, 2023”

Middle East Monitor

Al-Jazeera Net quotes the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemning the step and describing it as a violation of international law and an attempt to impose new facts on the ground, reaffirming that Israel, as the occupying power, 'has no sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem, and sovereignty belongs to the State of Palestine.'

It says the ministry urged the international community and international organizations to take a firm international stance that compels Israel to comply with international law and with UN resolutions.

The same report adds that the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected measures aimed at 'imposing new illegal facts on the ground, by manipulating the historical and legal status of the city, erasing its identity, and distorting the facts.'

The OIC condemnation, carried by وكالـة صدى نيوز, similarly frames the approval as part of a policy of Judaization aimed at changing the demographic, geographic, cultural, and historical character of the city and erasing its Arab identity, and it warns of dangerous repercussions.

It says the OIC reiterated that Israel, as an occupying power, 'has no sovereignty over the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites,' calling on the international community to pressure Israel to halt illegal actions and ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people, their land, and their sacred places.

The Arab News report attributes the warning to the Palestinian Authority and says Jerusalem Governorate cautioned that the project could significantly change the demographic and geographic character of the area, with a quoted warning that establishing such institutions in Palestinian neighborhoods is not merely educational but serves political objectives, including increasing pressure on Palestinian residents and contributing to displacement.

While the underlying description of an 11-story yeshiva project in Sheikh Jarrah is consistent across multiple reports, the framing and emphasis differ between outlets.

Al-Jazeera Net presents the approval as a radical change in the face of the occupied city of Jerusalem and repeatedly links it to settlement and displacement mechanisms, including eviction threats and 'urban renewal' plans that it says include 'demolishing existing buildings, and building new ones in their place.'

Al-Bawaba News

It also stresses that the land's legal path underwent a controversial shift and that the land was transferred to 'Or Somayach' without transparent bidding procedures.

Middle East Monitor, by contrast, emphasizes the planning process and the objections rejected by the Israeli rights group Ir Amim, stating that the objections submitted jointly by Ir Amim and the Sheikh Jarrah community association were rejected and warning that implementing the project “would significantly” increase the presence of occupiers.

The outlet also includes a specific warning that the location near existing settlement clusters “could threaten dozens of Palestinian families with eviction and facilitate the takeover of their homes by occupiers.”

Arab News focuses on the Palestinian Authority warning and the governorate’s caution, describing the site as opposite Sheikh Jarrah Mosque and noting that it is currently used as a parking lot near the “Green Line,” while also specifying the street and road context.

WAFA Agency and the البوابة نيوز report both attribute the approval to the Jerusalem Governorate and describe the project as approved by the district planning committee of the Israeli municipality on Monday, but they add different contextual claims about exploiting regional tensions and the US–Israeli war on Iran to push colonial schemes.

The Jerusalem school approval is presented in these sources as part of a wider escalation affecting Palestinian neighborhoods, including threats of eviction and parallel enforcement actions elsewhere in East Jerusalem.

“Israeli occupation authorities approved plans to establish a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA”

Al-Bawaba News

Al-Jazeera Net says that since October 8, 2023, Israeli assaults in the West Bank and Jerusalem against Palestinians have escalated, including killings, demolitions of homes and facilities, displacement, and settlement expansion, and it identifies Sheikh Jarrah as among the most prominent neighborhoods targeted by settlement in East Jerusalem.

Al-Jarida al-Quds

It also says the rights organization revealed that the tools used by the occupation vary, most notably ongoing eviction threats against Palestinian families, and moving ahead with new settlement plans under the banner of urban renewal in Sheikh Jarrah.

The جريدة القدس report adds a related enforcement episode in Silwan, saying that teams from the Israeli 'Execution and Enforcement Department' stormed the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood under heavy protection from the occupation police and handed the head of the neighborhood committee, Zuhair al-Rajabi, eviction notices targeting seven siblings from his family.

It states that the deadline given was until mid-May to leave their homes and that local sources explained the homes are threatened with confiscation for the benefit of the 'Ateret Cohanim' settlement association.

The same report says Zuhair al-Rajabi mentioned that his family has already lost 30 homes since 2015, and that they only have 10 homes left out of 41 that the family owned in the neighborhood.

On the diplomatic front, the جريدة القدس report says foreign ministers of eight Arab and Islamic countries issued a joint statement condemning ongoing Israeli violations in occupied Jerusalem, and it lists Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and other countries as included in that statement.