13 settlement building plans by the Israeli occupation to besiege Al-Aqsa Mosque

Occupied Al-Quds, (ST)  – The Israeli occupation continues to implement its settlement building plans in the West Bank. It has implemented 13 settlement building plans, most of them in the town of Silwan, which is adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque  from the southern side with the aim of isolating the mosque from its surrounding, and displace the Palestinians from this area.

The occupation aims to change the features and identity of the area, leading to controlling Al-Aqsa Mosque and Judaizing it after completing the settlement belt around it and the excavations under it.

In a statement to SANA correspondent, the spokesman for the people in Silwan, Fakhri Abu Diab said: the occupation has completed the implementation of a settlement building plan in the Al-Hamra Land area, extending over an area of 4 dunams and about 300 meters away from the walls of Al-Aqsa from the southern side.

Abu Diab indicated that Al-Hamra Land has an important strategic location as it is located at a crossroads leading to the Wadi Hilweh and Rababa neighborhoods in Silwan, it is also adjacent to the Silwan Mosque and Ain Silwan which constitutes an important source of water supply to the region.

Abu Diab pointed out that the occupation also recently completed the establishment of a settlement bridge in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood in Silwan, which is close to the Al-Hamra land. He explained that these Judaizing occupation plans have several risks in terms of seizing Palestinian lands and depriving them of these lands.

Abu Diab stated that the occupation, as part of its attempt to obliterate Islamic and Arab landmarks in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa, implemented four Judaization plans in Wadi Al-Joz area located 150 meters north of Al-Aqsa. “The occupation also continues to implement Judaization plans below and in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa to strangle it and impose a siege on it. He indicated that the occupation is focusing In the process of Judaization and settlement of the area that extends from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of the Old City, to the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa”, he added.

For his part, the specialist in settlement affairs, Jamal Jumaa said that the occupation’s excavations are concentrated in the town of Silwan in light of accelerating steps to control the southern side of Al-Aqsa.

Jumaa said that since 1967, the occupation has demolished 3,124 houses in the town of Silwan, while preventing its people from urban expansion despite the natural population increase, and this situation apply to all of the city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem). In return, the occupation continues to implement Judaization plans with the aim of controlling the city and emptying it of the Palestinian presence, demanding The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and all international institutions concerned with urgent intervention to stop the destruction carried out by the occupation of the heritage and cultural heritage in the town of Silwan and Al-Quds in general.

The Director of the International Jerusalem Center, Hassan Khater, confirmed that there are dangerous Judaization plans surrounding Al-Aqsa from all sides.

He warned that dangers surround Al-Aqsa from every side, as the occupation escalates the pace of implementing its plans to Judaize it and control it and its surroundings to open the door wide for settlers to invade it. He called for urgent international intervention to pressure the Israeli occupation to stop its attacks on Al-Aqsa and all Islamic and Christian sanctities in Al-Quds.

Raghda Sawas