Israel's Jerusalem municipality gave the green-light on Wednesday to 558 new settlement properties in the occupied West Bank, despite being in the midst of the so-called peace process brokered by the United States.
"This is further proof that more of the same by the United States through this so called peace process and negotiations is not going to bring an end to Israel's oppression of Palestinians," said Ramah Kudaimi, membership and outreach coordinator for U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, in an interview with Common Dreams.
A spokesperson for the Jerusalem municipality announced Wednesday that private contractors had been approved to build the properties in the Jewish settlements of Har Homa, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Zeev.
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All of these settlements are illegal according to international law.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli authorities destroyed three homes in East Jerusalem that belong to Palestinians—a move that displaced at least five families.
Said Kudaimi, "You can see these negotiations are obviously not living up to what they are supposedly achieving if at the same time Israel is gobbling up more Palestinian land."
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