Israel plans to expand Jewish neighbourhood in Jerusalem

Al-Buraq wall area Jerusalem – Sona Al-Deek The Israeli District Committee for Planning and Building in Jerusalem approved on Friday a project to build a hotel on a 5420-metres area, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque and 30 metres away from Wadi Hilwah neighbourhood in Silwan, in the area patrolled by the “Givati Brigade”.
The hotel would be built according to a plan from the Elad Association, opposite the entrance to the area called “Ir David” and, most of all, near to the entrance of Al-Magharba gate and Wadi Hilwah.
Meanwhile, The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage revealed an Israeli plan to expand the illegal Jewish neighbourhood in the old city of Jerusalem at the expenses of the Palestinian lands belonging to the Armenian monastery.
In a report last Wednesday, the Aqsa foundation stated that this plan is part of a comprehensive Judaization scheme to change the Islamic and Christian monuments and landmarks in the neighbourhood of Al-Sharaf, which was seized by the Israeli occupation in 1967 and later named as the Jewish neighbourhood.
Al-Sharaf is adjacent to Al-Maghariba Gate and Al-Buraq wall areas, the foundation pointed.
According to information obtained by the Aqsa foundation, the Israeli plan, which is carried out by a company for the development of the Jewish quarter in the old city of Jerusalem, consists of residential compounds, hotels, shopping malls, public facilities and underground parking areas.
The plan also includes the construction of a tunnel underground extending from the parking area to Al-Maghariba Gate; moreover, the entrance to the tunnel will be from Prophet David Gate, where the south-western wall of the old city of Jerusalem stands.
The tunnel will be part of the network that already exists under the city of Jerusalem and surrounds the Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to the report.