Occupation Authorities Begin Construction of Settler Road North of Jerusalem

SadaNews: Today, Thursday, the Israeli occupation authorities began the construction of the "45" settler road north of occupied Jerusalem, as part of a colonial plan aimed at linking the settlements north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah with the city of Jerusalem, reinforcing colonial control over its surroundings.

The Jerusalem governorate reported that the road extends from the town of Mukhmas in the east to the Qalandiya tunnel in the west, eventually connecting to the colonial road "443", with an estimated length of about 5 kilometers in its current phase, as part of a system of colonial detour roads that tighten the grip around the city of occupied Jerusalem and redraw the geography surrounding it.

It pointed out that the road aims to facilitate the movement of settlers and directly connect the colonial blocks north of Jerusalem and east of Ramallah with the city of Jerusalem and within the lands of 48, contributing to encouraging settlement and attracting settlers to reside in the colonies established around the city, in addition to controlling the eastern and northern slopes of Jerusalem, and changing the geographic and demographic character of the area.

The Jerusalem governorate indicated that the project forms a central tool in isolating occupied Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and cutting the geographical connection between northern West Bank and its central part, as part of practical implementation of the Greater Jerusalem plan in the Israeli sense, imposing permanent colonial realities on the ground that serve the annexation project and entrench Israeli control over the city and its surroundings.

The occupation authorities had seized about 280 dunams of citizens' lands in order to construct the road, belonging to the towns of Mukhmas, Jaba', Al-Ram, and Kafr Aqab north of occupied Jerusalem, under military orders, despite residents' objections. According to published data, the cost of implementing the colonial road is about 400 million shekels.