Over the past week, the Israeli authorities promoted outline plans for some 6500 housing units in new or existing settlements in East Jerusalem despite Israel's repeated commitments to a temporary moratorium on settlement advancements. On March 29, the Jerusalem Local Planning Committee advanced the plans for the Wadi Joz Business Center (Silicon Wadi), Lower Aqueduct, and Ramot North A and B.

Today, March 3, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee convened discussions on five settlement plans in French Hill/Mount Scopus (2), Givat Shaked, Pisgat Ze'ev, and Ramot.

See maps below.

Lower Aqueduct
The Local Planning Committee discussed the submitted objections to the Lower Aqueduct plan on March 29 and subsequently rejected them, recommending the plan for approval. The plan will now proceed to the District Planning Committee for a discussion on the objections and a decision on the plan's approval. No date for this session has yet to be set. 

Construction of the Lower Aqueduct plan for 1465 housing units will extend territorial contiguity between Har Homa and Givat Hamatos, further creating an Israeli settlement wedge between the southern edge of East Jerusalem and the Bethlehem area of the West Bank. Such developments severely erode any remaining conditions for a two-state framework with two capitals in Jerusalem. Despite being designated for land adjacent to the Palestinian neighborhood of Umm Tuba, the plan is not intended to meet the community's dire housing needs, but rather to serve as another residential project for Israelis over the Green Line in Jerusalem.

Givat Shaked
The plan (TPS 969162) for a new settlement with 700 housing units on the slopes of the Palestinian neighborhood of Sharafat-Beit Safafa was approved for deposit with conditions by the District Planning Committee in September 2022. Although approved for deposit, the plan has not yet been formally deposited for public review. An internal session was scheduled for today to amend the decision on the plan. Although the details regarding this amendment are unknown at present, the assumption is that the modification is a technical issue. 

Beyond constituting another new settlement in Jerusalem, Givat HaShaked is also another flagrant example of the breadth of housing and planning discrimination in the city. While Givat HaShaked is intended for vacant land located along the built-up area of Sharafat, it is not designated for the community’s development needs, but rather for a new Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem. 

The stark disparity in housing and urban planning is exemplified by the zoning plans for thousands of housing units which are advanced yearly in Israeli settlements and neighborhoods across the city, while proper residential development in Palestinian areas is virtually neglected. In 2022, plans for 40,300 housing units were advanced for Israelis across Jerusalem, 23,097 housing units of which were for new or existing settlements in East Jerusalem. In contrast, plans for only approximately 5900 housing units were promoted in existing Palestinian neighborhoods-- the vast majority of which will likely not be approved nor implemented based on prior data. Even still, such a number only constitutes around 15% of the total number of housing units advanced in the city last year despite Palestinians constituting 39% of Jerusalem's population. It should also be noted that nearly all plans advanced for Palestinian areas are not initiated by the government as is the case for most Israeli settlements and neighborhoods, placing the tremendous planning burden on the individual Palestinian landowners. 

In the absence of equitable urban planning and residential development, Palestinian families are often either forced out of the city or compelled to construct homes without building permits, which subjects them to the threat of demolition. Since the start of 2023, there have been 63 demolitions across East Jerusalem, 30 of which were homes.

French Hill/Mount Scopus
Two plans (TPS 890442 & TPS 896225) are being advanced in the area of French Hill and the premises of Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus for a total of 1539 housing units. Most of the housing units in both plans are designated for land beyond the Green Line. Although the plans are allocated for areas where university dormitories are currently located, they are not intended for the expansion of student housing, but rather residential buildings.

Both plans were reviewed for deposit during a session at the District Planning Committee in May 2022. A few surveys and amendments were required prior to approval for deposit. Today's internal discussion on the plans may have been for reviewing these amendments and approving the plans for deposit.

 
Pisgat Ze'ev
This plan (TPS 759894) calls for 730 housing units and would expand the settlement eastwards towards towards the Separation Barrier and the area of Hizma, depleting the few remaining open land reserves in the area. The District Planning Committee reviewed the plan in February 2022 for approval for deposit and required changes to the plan. Today's internal session may have been for reviewing these amendments and approving the plan for deposit.
 
Ramot
The plan (TPS 991406) calls for 240 housing units within the existing built-up area of the Ramot settlement. This was the first session at the District Planning Committee where they reviewed the plan for approval for deposit. 

Further updates on the status of these plans will be provided upon publication of the District Committee's decisions.

It should be underscored that over the past 18 months, there has been an increase in the promotion of settlement plans across East Jerusalem, demonstrated by the aforementioned plans, along with several others including, Atarot, the expansion of the Nof Tzion settlement (Nof Zahav), and the plan for more than doubling the size of the planned settlement for Givat Hamatos.

Combined, these plans constitute a significant new stage of settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, further diminishing the prospects of an agreed political resolution and undermining Palestinian rights to their homes and the city.