Israel's Housing Ministry is promoting the construction of 9,000 Israeli homes in east Jerusalem, Peace Now reported on Tuesday, saying the project will focus mainly in the Atarot area in the city.
The move comes on the heels of a Transportation Ministry plan to extend the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv high-speed train to the Western Wall in the capital's old city.
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The group said the new homes are slated to come up between the Palestinian neighborhoods of Kafr 'Aqab, Qalandiya and Al-Ram in Jerusalem, but the approval process for a project of this scope is expected to take years.
If approved, this will be the first new neighborhood in east Jerusalem since Har Homa in 1997.
Peace Now condemned the move as "another blow" to the peace process.
"The planned neighborhood will drive a wedge in the heart of the Palestinian urban sprawl between Ramallah and east Jerusalem, and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Netanyahu is leading Israel to the reality of a binational apartheid state and is putting the Zionist enterprise in jeopardy," the leftist group rebuked.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the majority of the land earmarked for the project is considered government property and as such would not be taken from private owners. Dozens of Palestinian homes built in the area illegally will most likely be demolished as part of the plan.
