Yesterday, Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli government's approval of building a new settlement on the land of Jerusalem Airport, or what is known locally as "Qalandia Airport".
In a statement, the ministry said: We condemn the occupation authorities' approval of building 10,000 new settlement units on the lands of Jerusalem International Airport (Qalandia), to expand the Atarot settlement.
She added that the plan aims to complete the separation of Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings, as an integral part of the process of "Israelisation", Judaizing and annexing it, changing its historical, legal and demographic reality, and trying to remove it from any future negotiations as the capital of the State of Palestine.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry expressed its concern over the scheme, and called on the international community and the US administration to intervene immediately and urgently to stop the settlement projects.
The newspaper "Israel Today" has said that the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem approved the establishment of a settlement on the land of Jerusalem, the airport area of 1243 dunums (a dunum is equal to a thousand square meters).
The newspaper added that the new settlement will include thousands of housing units, spaces for hotels and areas for public and commercial buildings.
Until 1967, Al-Quds International Airport was the only air port in the West Bank, before Israel seized it and turned it into an airport for a few domestic flights, then closed it permanently in 2000.
undermining peace
Data of the Israeli human rights movement, Peace Now, indicate that there are about 666,000 settlers, 145 large settlements, and 140 random outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The Israeli movement announced its opposition to the plan to build the new settlement, and said in a statement, "It is a scheme that undermines the prospects for peace on the basis of two states for two peoples."
She added that the new settlement scheme will impede the existing Palestinian urban contiguity between Ramallah and East Jerusalem, making it difficult to establish a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On Tuesday, diplomats from European countries toured settlements in the West Bank, protesting Israel's plans to expand them.
The European Union representative in Palestine, Sven Kon von Burgsdorff, said the recent approvals to build thousands of housing units for Israelis aim to separate the Palestinians from their city and change the character of East Jerusalem.