Israel delays approval of major settlement project in East Jerusalem

A general view shows the Jewish settler enclave of Nof Zion located in the heart of the Palestinian neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, East Jerusalem on October 25, 2017. REUTERS Ammar Awad

JERUSALEM, Dec 6, Reuters - An Israeli state planning committee has delayed its approval of a major settlement project in East Jerusalem that has drawn U.S. and Palestinian concern.

The proposal that envisages building up to 9,000 homes for Jewish settlers, a move that would cement more occupied West Bank lands within Israel's municipality boundaries for Jerusalem, received preliminary approval last month.

A statement from Israel's Planning Administration said the committee voted against moving forward, citing the need for an environmental study. There wasn't a timeline for further discussion.

Critics contend that the proposed construction between East Jerusalem and the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the West Bank would further distort Palestinian hopes for a future state.

The site once housed an airport and is known to Israelis as Atarot. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the settlement plan as a bid to finalise the separation of Jerusalem from our outlying Palestinian area. Israeli media speculated that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett could move slowly toward final approval to avoid Washington's settlement issues after the Jerusalem municipal committee green-lit the project on Nov. 24.

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinans want a state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Most world powers consider Israeli settlements in occupied territory illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical, biblical and political links to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The Israeli statement said on Sunday that the Atarot project was discussed in a call between Bennett and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

A State Department spokeswoman said that Blinken urged Israel and the Palestinians to refrain from any unilateral steps and said that advancing settlement activity could undermine any efforts to negotiate a two-state solution to their conflict.