Palestine expert warns against more Israeli settlements

JERUSALEM

A prominent Palestinian expert on settlement matters has warned that Israel will seize more Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem.

Israel plans to build a further 1,257 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Khalil al-Tufakji, director of the Maps Department at the Arab Study Society in Jerusalem, said: "Israel aims, beyond this step, to define the lands with absent owners, meaning taking control of areas belonging to those who do not reside in the city."

He went on to say that the move also aims to take land and properties that their owners have not registered in their names for decades.

The Israeli Peace Now NGO said the Israeli motion aims to isolate the occupied Jerusalem from the West Bank and to destroy any hope of implementing the "two-state solution."

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat