Palestinians warn of ‘explosion’ over Israel’s 1,000 new settler homes

Israeli plans to move ahead with 1,000 new settler homes could flare already soaring tensions in East Jerusalem, which has been the scene of violent unrest for months.

Palestinians work at a construction site of a new housing project in the annexed Arab east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal Abu Ghneim. The Israeli government has given the green light for the planning of more than 1,000 new Jewish settler homes. Gali Tibbon / AFP PhotoShow less

RAMALLAH // Palestinians warned on Monday of an “explosion” of violence in response to Israel’s plan to build more than 1,000 new homes for settlers in annexed East Jerusalem.

The plans to move ahead with the units could flare already soaring tensions in East Jerusalem, which has been the scene of violent unrest for months, including near-nightly clashes between police and Palestinian youths.

“Such unilateral acts will lead to an explosion,” said Jibril Rajoub, a leader in the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

The EU said on Monday it was seeking Israeli clarification of its plans, voicing new concern about the peace process.

An official at Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said plans for the new homes would move forward in Har Homa and Ramat Shlomo, two Jewish settlement neighbourhoods.

Mr Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina slammed the move as a “dangerous escalation” that had the potential to create an “earthquake” in the region.

The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the new construction would push the Palestinian leadership to “speed up” plans to approach the UN Security Council and to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“Everything Netanyahu’s government is doing are war crimes which must be tried according to international law,” he said, calling on Washington to “rethink its biased position” towards Israel.

He also urged the US administration “not to oppose” Palestinian plans to submit a resolution to the Security Council calling for an end to the Israeli occupation within two years.

Should the initiative be thwarted by a likely US veto, the Palestinians have pledged to join the ICC, where they could sue Israeli officials for war crimes – a move that Rajoub said could come “within a matter of weeks”.

“We will not give in to any pressure – neither American pressure nor to Mr Netanyahu’s threats. We will go to the ICC. We have already made our mind up,” Mr Rajoub said.

“If hope is diminishing of coming up with a [Security Council] resolution, then we have no other choice.”

He said it would be a mistake to expect the Palestinians to simply ignore Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem.

“Mr Netanyahu should not expect a white flag from the Palestinian people.”

Israel seized East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

Israel, regarding Jerusalem as its undivided capital, does not view construction in the eastern sector as settlement building.

But such moves infuriate the Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as capital of their future state.

The move also drew criticism from within Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government.

Israel’s finance minister, Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party supports the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a final peace agreement, objected to the deal.

“This plan will lead to a serious crisis in Israel-US relations and will harm Israel’s standing in the world,” Mr Lapid said.

There was no public pledge to actually erect the 1,000 homes, and Pepe Alalu, a left-wing member of the Jerusalem municipality’s planning and housing committee, said the proposed projects were not new.

“The plans have existed for a long time,” Mr Alalu said, adding that no building permits had been issued.

Palestinian-Israeli violence has been on the rise since since June, when three Israeli teenagers were abducted and killed by Palestinian militants in the West Bank.

Israeli extremists retaliated by abducting and killing a Palestinian teenager in East Jerusalem, sparking riots. The abductions set off a series of events that led to the 50-day Gaza war.

Last week, a Palestinian drove his car into a Jerusalem train station, killing a three-month-old Israeli-American girl, and wounding several other people.

On Sunday, a 22-year-old Ecuadorean woman also died of her wounds sustained in that attack.

The car’s driver, identified as Abdel Rahman Al Shaludi, was a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who had served time in prison for militant activities.

He was shot by police as he tried to run away and later died from his wounds.

The last few months have also seen clashes at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site between Palestinians and Israeli police, adding to the tensions.

Mr Netanyahu also on Monday ordered officials to speed up legislation designed to quash the months of violence, including punishing the parents of minors who take part in disturbances.

He convened security and justice officials to discuss how to quell the unrest, his office said.

Possible steps include tougher penalties for stone-throwing and financial penalties for the parents of minors involved.

“The prime minister instructed that a proposed law to make the punishment for stone-throwing more severe be expedited as quickly as possible.”

* Agence France-Presse with additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg