Israel Approves 566 East Al-Quds Settler Homes after Trump Inauguration
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israel Sunday approved building permits for 566 settler homes in occupied east al-Quds (Jerusalem), plans that had been postponed until US President Donald Trump took office, the city's deputy mayor said.
Meir Turjeman told AFP that city officials approved the plans that had been previously postponed at Benjamin Netanyahu's request in the wake of a UN Security Council resolution in December against Israeli settlement building.
Turjeman said plans for some 11,000 other homes were also in process in east al-Quds, though he did not say when they could be moved forward.
The new permits are for homes in the settlement neighborhoods of Pisgat Zeev, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, according to Turjeman, who also heads the planning committee that approved them.
"The rules of the game have changed with Donald Trump's arrival as president," he said, AFP reported.
"We no longer have our hands tied as in the time of Barack Obama. Now we can finally build."
Netanyahu said Sunday he was to speak with Trump later in the day, their first conversation since the billionaire businessman took office.
Trump has pledged strong support for Israel during his campaign.
The new approvals came despite a UNSC resolution in December last year condemning all Israeli settlement construction on occupied Palestinian territories. The landmark Resolution 2334, passed on December 23, 2016, called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds a “flagrant violation of international law.” The resolution also demanded that Israel stop all such construction.
