The Israeli "Peace Now" movement (non-governmental) said that the government is pushing for a huge settlement project east of East Jerusalem, and this comes two days after the meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and US President Joe Biden.
The movement indicated in a report - and Anadolu Agency obtained a copy of it - that “the Israeli Supreme Planning Council sent a summons, yesterday, Sunday, for a hearing on the 4th of next October and the 18th of the same month, to discuss the objections submitted by the Peace Now and Ir Amim movements. (An Israeli human rights organization) and many others are on plans to build 3,412 housing units in the E1 project.
And "E1" is a huge settlement project on a land area of 12,000 dunams (a dunam of one thousand square metres), and aims to link the "Ma'ale Adumim" settlement - east of East Jerusalem - with West Jerusalem through thousands of settlement units.
The Palestinian Authority had previously warned that this project would isolate East Jerusalem from its eastern Palestinian surroundings, and divide the West Bank into northern and southern parts, making it difficult to implement the principle of the "two-state solution."
The Higher Planning Council of the Israeli Civil Administration, the executive arm of the Israeli Ministry of Defense in the Palestinian territories, is responsible for approving the construction of Israeli settlements.
And Peace Now - the left-wing movement that monitors settlements - pointed out that "earlier last July, the Supreme Council tried to set a date for the hearing in August, but it was canceled."
"The government of Israel had an opportunity to take the plan off the table, but instead, the plan was promoted as the Supreme Planning Council announced a new date for a hearing at the beginning of next October, right after the holidays in Israel," she said.
Peace Now warned that this plan is "exceptionally fatal to the prospects for peace and a two-state solution, as it extends across the West Bank."
A network of roads in the "E1" area to link settlements with occupied Jerusalem (Al-Jazeera)
"There have been attempts to promote this plan since the 1990s, but due to opposition in Israel and the world it was not promoted until (former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu ordered it to be approved for deposit in 2012, and then after years of freezing the plan, he promoted it again in On the eve of the February 2020 elections.
"This plan constitutes a real threat to the opportunity for peace, and therefore it has been met with sharp opposition in Israel and internationally," she added.
"Instead of taking advantage of the meeting with President Biden for a better future for the region, the government is promoting Netanyahu's dangerous policies," she added.
And she explained, "The Minister of Defense has the full authority to call on the Planning Council to cancel the discussion, and freeze the plan at any moment."
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met - in Ramallah - with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in the first meeting at this level since 2014.