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Israel’s defense ministry begins planning new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron - newspaper

The minister Naftali Bennett ordered divisions of the defense ministry to inform Hebron’s Palestinian municipality that planning was beginning for a new neighborhood near the city’s old market

TEL AVIV, December 1. /TASS/. Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has ordered to begin planning a new Jewish neighborhood in the Wesk Bank city of Hebron, the Times of Israel reported on Sunday.

According to the newspaper, the minister ordered relevant divisions of the defense ministry to inform Hebron’s Palestinian municipality that planning was beginning for a new neighborhood near the city’s old market.

Israel permitted the construction of a Palestinian market in this area shortly after it gained control of the city in 1967. The market however was closed in 1994 and has been idling ever since. Under the ministry’s plan, ground-floor shops will stay in Palestinian ownership but premises on upper floors will house Jewish settlers, the newspaper said.

Israel’s ongoing construction activities on the West Bank is seen as a major obstacle hampering the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. In December 2016, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2334 demanding Israel immediately stop settlement activities on the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel said back then it would not implement this resolution.