JERUSALEM
Israel has suspended a controversial plan to expand Jewish-only settlements in East Jerusalem, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday.
"Israel has frozen construction of 1,500 new housing units in East Jerusalem's Har Homa neighborhood," the newspaper said.
"The Ministry of Construction and Housing and the Jerusalem municipality have confirmed that two critical [settlement] planning meetings set for the coming week… have been canceled for unknown reasons," it added.
The newspaper quoted officials close to the plan as saying the meetings had been called off due to "political sensitivities."
The officials were also quoted as saying that the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who recently vowed to continue settlement construction in East Jerusalem despite mounting international pressure – had not approved the meetings.
On the eve of Israel's March 17 Knesset elections, Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, told voters that he – should he be reelected prime minister – would follow through with Israel's plans to step up settlement-building in East Jerusalem.
Israeli officials were not immediately available to comment on the officials' assertions.
International law considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied territories captured by Israel in 1967, deeming any construction of Jewish settlements on the land to be illegal.
Since its establishment 67 years ago, Israel has continued to misappropriate Palestinian land in the West Bank – on which it continues to build Jewish-only settlements – in breach of international law.
Palestinians, for their part, demand the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, with East Jerusalem – currently occupied by Israel – as its capital.
