Israel Planning to Replace Palestinian Airport with 9,000 Settler Units
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Israeli occupation authorities are planning to build 9,000 new settlement units on the ruins of Qalandia Airport near occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
According to a report by Sama news agency on Sunday, the plan was submitted for discussion by the Israeli-run Jerusalem Municipality in August last year, but stalled under pressure from rights groups and EU member states.
Peace Now activist Hagit Ofran said that the plan had been cancelled in November 2021 and was "off the table".
Recently, however, the plan has been revived and is set to be discussed again by the municipality.
This was confirmed by Ahmad Al-Ruwaidi, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Al-Ruwaidi said that the PA leadership has been trying to stop the plan, and stressed that the land is owned by the Palestinians, according to the Middle East Monitor.
The proposal is to transform the 124-hectare airport site, from which flights operated between 1924 and 2000, into a new settlement, with parks, hotels, public buildings, commercial areas and settler housing.
All of Israel's settlements are illegal under international law.
On a related note, Israeli soldiers demolished three Palestinian homes in the al-Minya village, southeast of Bethlehem, south of occupied al-Quds in the West Bank on Monday morning.
According to the Mayor of Al-Minya, Zayed Al-Kawazba, a large military force including armored bulldozers invaded the village during the early morning hours.
He said the soldiers began demolishing three 250-meter square houses belonging to the Palestinian civilian Rashid Kawazba and his sons.
The mayor said the Local Council licensed the homes; however, the army and its so-called “Civil Administration Office,” the administrative branch of the illegal Israeli occupation, do not recognize the permits.
According to Palestinian sources, the area of the demolitions is subject to constant Israeli violations, including the demolition of homes, sheds, barns, and other structures, in addition to the uprooting and bulldozing of Palestinian lands due to Israel’s escalating violations, especially the illegal colonialist activities aiming at expelling the Palestinians from the area.
In order to try to rationalize the flattening of the Palestinian structures, the regime has been accusing their owners of lacking construction permits, obtaining which is next to impossible.
The Tel Aviv regime also regularly destroys the homes of Palestinians it blames for attacks on Israeli settlers, in an act of collective punishment condemned by human rights activists.
Thousands of Palestinians, in spite of the fact that they had done nothing wrong and were not suspected of any wrongdoing, have been displaced due to the regime’s cruel policy.
