Khaberni - The Jerusalem Governorate said that the Israeli occupation authorities will discuss on Monday the approval of two highly dangerous settlement plans in Sheikh Jarrah, and the land of Jerusalem International Airport, which constitutes a qualitative escalation in the occupation's policy aimed at eliminating the Palestinian presence in East Jerusalem, and completely separating it from its geographical and natural extension in the West Bank.
The governorate clarified on Sunday that the first plan targets the lands of the former Jerusalem International Airport, and entails the construction of approximately 9000 settlement units north of Jerusalem on an area estimated at about 1243 dunams, which constitutes a huge colonial barrier cutting off the geographical connection between Jerusalem and Ramallah, and delivering a crippling blow to the possibility of an independent Palestinian state with geographical continuity.
It noted that the discussion of this plan was scheduled in December 2025, but the occupation authorities decided to postpone it then, in the context of political considerations, before it was re-introduced on the committee's agenda.
The Jerusalem Governorate affirmed that the "Atarot plan" cannot be separated from its long-term strategic goals, including the elimination of what was known as the airport of the future Palestinian state, which was a significant sovereign and political symbol.
The plan also aims to reinforce the separation between Palestinian communities located behind the wall and those in front of it, by creating a human settlement barrier that prevents any possibility of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state.
The plan is also part of the "Greater Jerusalem" project in the Israeli concept, which aims to annex about 10% of the West Bank area, through a network of tunnels and bypass roads to connect the settlements located northeast of Jerusalem.
In addition, the occupation aims to alter the demographic balance in its favor through policies of expulsion and demolition against the Palestinians, in contrast to colonial population replacement, as evidenced by official Israeli documents and plans.
The governorate also mentioned that the committee will discuss the "Nahalat Shimon" plan in Sheikh Jarrah, specifically in the Al-Naqa' area, which entails demolishing the neighborhood and building a settlement on an area of about 17 dunams, encompassing 316 units on the ruins of about 40 Palestinian families' homes.
This plan is based on a system of discriminatory racist laws that allow colonial associations to claim properties dating back to before 1948, while Palestinians are denied the same right to reclaim their properties from which they were forcibly displaced.
The governorate warned that what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah goes beyond a single plan, representing a systematic policy to reshape the neighborhood demographically and architecturally, where additional colonial projects are proposed, alongside vigorous efforts to connect these projects with the areas in the eastern part, passing through areas like Karam Al-Mufti and Mount Scopus, including the vicinity of the Hebrew University.
This linkage aims to divide the neighborhood into northern and southern sections, and facilitate control over it, connecting the eastern and western sectors of Jerusalem through a continuous colonial ring inside the Palestinian neighborhoods, especially in areas historically classified as a buffer zone between the years 1948 and 1967.
The governorate noted that colonial associations, supported by the occupation authorities, have been leading organized campaigns for decades to evict Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, using unprecedented legal, planning, and administrative tools, to achieve the same goal of forced displacement and establishing colonial presence at the heart of the neighborhood. These policies include extensive "urban renewal" projects, involving the construction of about two thousand units for settlers, exceeding the number of existing Palestinian homes in the entire neighborhood, with the total exclusion of Palestinian residents, alongside registration and settlement of lands in favor of settlers, and seizing public spaces, reallocating them for Jewish religious and national projects.
The targeting of the neighborhood is part of targeting its political and historical symbols, and an attempt to erase what is known as the Green Line, and redraw the geopolitical map of the city to serve the colonial project.
The governorate emphasized that these plans constitute crimes of forced displacement and illegal alteration of the status quo, affirming that it will continue to pursue them on all legal, political, and international levels, defending the rights of the Palestinian people, and advocating for East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.
