LONDON: Israel’s government has stepped up the building of settlements across East Jerusalem, with over 20 projects involving thousands of housing units advanced since it launched its war on Gaza six months ago, according to planning documents seen by the Guardian.
While many government bodies were shuttered or had limited operation following Oct. 7, planning authorities continued to advance plans at “unprecedented speed,” Sari Kronish, from the Israeli rights organization Bimkom — Planners for Planning Rights, told the Guardian.
“The fast-tracking of these plans has been unparalleled in the last six months,” Kronish added
Significantly, two new settlements were approved in East Jerusalem, the first such approvals in over a decade. One development involves the expansion of Kidmat Zion, a high-security settlement in the Palestinian neighborhood of Ras Al-Amud, which was decided on two days after the Oct. 7 attacks.
In the Palestinian community of Beit Safafa, encircled by these developments, work has also resumed on the Givat Hamatos and new Givat Shaked projects.
Givat Hamatos was shut down for a decade after international opposition. Work resumed in 2020, and last month the site was bustling with workers, heavy machinery, and trucks.
Givat Shaked, which received full planning permission on Jan. 4, will be built on the northwestern side of Beit Safafa.
It entails high-rise buildings with 700 housing units on the only land in Beit Safafa where the 17,000-strong Muslim majority could expand to accommodate young people. Palestinians are unable to build larger homes in the neighborhood, as well as elsewhere, due to bureaucratic and other restrictions.
The Givat Shaked project has faced significant opposition due to potential threats to the Oslo peace accords, leading to international criticism and a temporary halt urged by the US.
Despite this, the project gained momentum two years ago, endorsed by then Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked.
He rejected any claims of Palestinian control over Jerusalem’s east, and said it was “unthinkable to prevent development and construction in this area, or anywhere else in the city.”
“Our family has been here for 250 years … Now I have a black hole in my heart because I can’t see how my children and grandchildren can spend their lives here,” Ahmed Salman, the chair of Beit Safafa’s community council, told the Guardian.
“We had good relations with the municipality once, but not in recent years. Since the war, life goes on, but they approved the plan and dismissed all our objections. We are appealing, but I’m not optimistic,” the 71-year-old said.
Another contentious project, the Lower Aqueduct, was fully approved on Dec. 29. This settlement is planned adjacent to a Palestinian neighborhood, further complicating the demographic and political landscape.
“Many of the settlement plans are strategically designated for areas along the southern perimeter of East Jerusalem,” Amy Cohen, of Israeli human rights NGO Ir Amim, said.
Cohen added: “If constructed, they would further fracture the Palestinian space … and create a ‘sealing-off’ effect of East Jerusalem from Bethlehem and the southern West Bank.
“Such moves directly undermine conditions necessary for a viable independent Palestinian state with a contiguous capital in East Jerusalem. All this while bringing planning and building for Palestinians in the city to a complete stop.”
The surge in settlement activity aligns with the goals of the Israeli settler movement, supported by Israel’s current government, which is described by a UN report as the most right-wing in the nation’s history.
Palestinians account for roughly 40 percent of Jerusalem’s population of around 1 million. Successive Israeli governments have sought to maintain the city’s Jewish majority.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move that was not recognized by the majority of the international community. International law prohibits the permanent settlement of militarily occupied territory.
This expansion challenges the possibility of a Palestinian state and strains Israel’s relations with the international community, including the Biden administration.
Israel accused of stepping up work on illegal settlements since start of Gaza war
https://arab.news/5eqe5
Israel accused of stepping up work on illegal settlements since start of Gaza war

- Building plans in East Jerusalem being fast-tracked at ‘unprecedented speed,’ rights organization says
US envoy Tom Barrack clarifies Syria comments, denies they were threat to Lebanon

- Reports cited Barrack warning that Lebanon risked “going back to Bilad Al-Sham”
- Syrian government also moved to quash speculation that it was planning escalatory steps against Lebanon
LONDON: US Special Envoy Tom Barrack has sought to clarify remarks made during his recent visit to the region, saying that his comments praising Syria’s progress were not intended as a threat to neighboring Lebanon.
“My comments yesterday praised Syria’s impressive strides, not a threat to Lebanon,” Barrack posted on X on Saturday.
“I observed the reality that Syria is moving at light speed to seize the historic opportunity presented by @POTUS’ lifting of sanctions: Investment from Turkiye and the Gulf, diplomatic outreach to neighboring countries and a clear vision for the future. I can assure that Syria’s leaders only want coexistence and mutual prosperity with Lebanon, and the US is committed to supporting that relationship between two equal and sovereign neighbors enjoying peace and prosperity,” he added.
The clarification comes after reports in Lebanese media, including from MTV Lebanon, cited Barrack as warning that Lebanon risked “going back to Bilad Al-Sham” if it failed to act quickly on regional realignment.
The term Bilad Al-Sham, historically referring to Greater Syria, encompasses present-day Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine under the Ottoman Empire; a sensitive concept in Lebanon given fears over sovereignty and outside interference.
Barrack’s comments were widely interpreted by some local outlets as a warning that Lebanon could fall under renewed Syrian influence if it failed to align with shifting regional dynamics.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the Syrian government also moved to quash speculation that it was planning escalatory steps against Lebanon over the issue of Syrian detainees held in Lebanese prisons.
A Syrian Ministry of Information official said that the detainee issue remains “a top priority” and that Damascus is committed to resolving it “swiftly through official channels between the two countries.”
Earlier reports had cited unnamed sources close to the Syrian government suggesting that diplomatic and economic retaliation was under consideration in response to what Damascus saw as Lebanon’s neglect of the detainees’ plight.
However, the Information Ministry source denied this, saying there were no such plans and reaffirming Syria’s commitment to bilateral resolution.
In an interview with Arab News on Friday, Barrack had made similar remarks reflecting growing US concern over Lebanon’s political inertia and the evolving role of Hezbollah.
“If Lebanon doesn’t hurry up and get in line, everyone around them will,” Barrack warned, pointing to a broader regional shift sparked by the lifting of US sanctions on Syria.
He framed the moment as pivotal for Lebanon, with pressure mounting for a new political order.
Addressing questions about Hezbollah’s future, Barrack said the group consists of “two parts,” an Iran-backed militant faction designated as a terrorist organization, and a political wing operating in Lebanon’s parliament.
He added that any disarmament process “must be led by the Lebanese government, with the full agreement of Hezbollah itself.”
Barrack said: “That process has to start with the Council of Ministers. They have to authorize the mandate. And Hezbollah, the political party, has to agree to that. But what Hezbollah is saying is, ‘OK, we understand one Lebanon has to happen.’ Why? Because one Syria is starting to happen.”
On Syria, Barrack described the lifting of sanctions on May 13 as a “strategic fresh start” for the war-ravaged nation and said that the US was not intending to pursue “nation-building or federalism.”
He called the Middle East a “difficult zip code at an amazingly historic time,” and told Arab News that the Trump administration’s new approach was designed to offer “a new slice of hope” to the Syrian people.
“President (Trump)’s message is peace and prosperity,” he said. “Sanctions gave the people hope. That’s really all that happened at that moment.”
Fuel shortages in Gaza at ‘critical levels,’ UN warns

- Seven UN agencies said in a joint statement that “fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza”
GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached “critical levels,” threatening to further increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Seven UN agencies said in a joint statement that “fuel is the backbone of survival in Gaza.”
Fuel was needed to “power hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulances, and every aspect of humanitarian operations,” they said, highlighting that bakeries also needed fuel to operate.
The besieged Palestinian territory has been facing dire fuel shortages since the beginning of the devastating war that erupted after Hamas’s deadly attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.
But now “fuel shortage in Gaza has reached critical levels,” warned the agencies, including the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the humanitarian agency OCHA.
“After almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity,” they pointed out.
“When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation.”
The UN said that without adequate fuel, the agencies that have been responding to the deep humanitarian crisis in a territory swathes of which have been flattened by Israeli bombing and facing famine warnings, “will likely be forced to stop their operations entirely.”
“This means no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid,” the statement said.
“Without adequate fuel, Gaza faces a collapse of humanitarian efforts,” it warned.
“Without fuel, bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate. Water production and sanitation systems will shut down, leaving families without safe drinking water, while solid waste and sewage pile up in the streets,” it added.
“These conditions expose families to deadly disease outbreaks and push Gaza’s most vulnerable even closer to death.”
The warning comes days after the UN managed to bring fuel into Gaza for the first time in 130 days.
While a “welcome development,” the UN agencies said the 75,000 liters of fuel they were able to bring in was just “a small fraction of what is needed each day to keep daily life and critical aid operations running.”
“The United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners cannot overstate the urgency of this moment,” they said.
“Fuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and consistently to sustain life-saving operations.”
FM Araghchi says Iran to work with IAEA, but inspections may be risky

- While Iran’s cooperation with the nuclear watchdog has not stopped, it will take a new form, he said
DUBAI, July 12 : Iran plans to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog despite restrictions imposed by its parliament, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday, but stressed that access to its bombed nuclear sites posed security and safety issues.
The new law stipulates that any future inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) needs approval by the Supreme National Security Council, Iran’s top security body.
“The risk of spreading radioactive materials and the risk of exploding leftover munitions ... are serious,” state media cited Araghchi as saying. “For us, IAEA inspectors approaching nuclear sites has both a security aspect ... and the safety of the inspectors themselves is a matter that must be examined.”
While Iran’s cooperation with the nuclear watchdog has not stopped, it will take a new form and will be guided and managed through the Supreme National Security Council, Araghchi told Tehran-based diplomats.
Jordan, EU sign security pact to tackle serious crime, terrorism

- Joint action will target migrant and weapons smuggling as well as drug trafficking
- Partnership ‘embodies mutual trust and understanding,’ says Europol executive director
AMMAN: Jordan and the EU have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at bolstering efforts to combat organized crime and terrorism across borders, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The working arrangements were signed between Jordan’s Public Security Directorate and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, or Europol, on Thursday.
The agreement establishes a legal framework to support joint action in fighting serious and organized crime, as well as terrorism, by facilitating cooperation and the exchange of non-personal information between Europol and Jordanian law enforcement agencies.
According to a statement from the PSD, the agreement will allow both parties to coordinate on a range of issues, including migrant smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, and weapons smuggling.
Under the deal, Jordan and the EU will share specialized expertise, overall situation reports, and the results of strategic analyzes.

The agreement also enables participation in joint training initiatives, and includes provisions for advice and support in individual criminal investigations.
To streamline collaboration, the PSD will appoint a national contact point responsible for liaising with Europol and coordinating efforts between Jordanian agencies and their European counterparts.
The arrangements also allow for the potential appointment of a Europol liaison officer to be stationed in Jordan, joining a global network of law enforcement representatives from more than 50 countries.
With the agreement in force, the EU and Jordan are expected to significantly strengthen their cooperation in addressing pressing regional and international security challenges.
The arrangements represent “a pivotal step” in joint efforts to address the security threats affecting the EU, its member states, and Jordan, said Catherine De Bolle, executive director of Europol.
She said the partnership “embodies mutual trust and understanding in the law enforcement area,” paving the way for closer cooperation to achieve security within the EU and across the Middle East.
28 Palestinians including children killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

- Israeli military says that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday.
The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.
The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment on the civilian deaths.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.