Jerusalem (UNA/WAFA) – The Jerusalem Governorate warned of a dangerous colonial plan being pushed by the Israeli occupation authorities to establish a massive settlement on the lands of Jerusalem International Airport, north of occupied Jerusalem, considering it a dangerous escalation of the colonial policy, and one that directly aims to separate northern Jerusalem from its Palestinian hinterland..
The governorate said in a statement issued on Monday that the plan undermines the geographical and demographic contiguity of Palestinian areas between Jerusalem and Ramallah, in an attempt to impose new colonial realities that jeopardize any political horizon based on a two-state solution, and prevent the development of East Jerusalem as an urban and political center for the Palestinian state..
She explained that the colonial plan aims to establish approximately 9,000 settlement units in the heart of a densely populated Palestinian urban area, encompassing Kafr Aqab, Qalandiya, Al-Ram, Beit Hanina, and Bir Nabala. This poses a direct threat to the integrated Palestinian urban space north of Jerusalem and deepens the policy of separation and isolation imposed on the city and its surroundings..
The Jerusalem Governorate indicated that the so-called “Israeli District Planning and Building Committee” intends to hold a session on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, to discuss advancing Plan No. 101-0764936. The session may witness the approval of the plan’s basic principles, including the allocation of commercial and public spaces, despite the failure of previous attempts in 2021 due to official objections from the Israeli Ministries of Environmental Protection and Health, in addition to the plan being frozen previously during the administration of US President Barack Obama..
In this context, she pointed out that the Israeli Ministry of Finance requested in December 2025 the approval of the Knesset Finance Committee to transfer 16 million shekels to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, under the pretext of “rehabilitating contaminated lands,” including Jerusalem International Airport, in a move that practically aims to remove what she described as artificial environmental obstacles and accelerate the implementation of the colonial project..
The governorate added that the majority of the land in the plan has been classified as “state land” since the British Mandate period, despite the existence of vast areas of private Palestinian land, which the occupation intends to subject to forced unification and division procedures without the consent of their owners, in a clear violation of private property rights..
The Jerusalem Governorate warned that implementing this plan would create a colonial enclave separating northern Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and deepen the policy of fragmenting the city. It affirmed that it would continue to expose the plan and address the international community and human rights organizations, considering it a blatant violation of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy..
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