The Israeli Ministry of Housing has prepared a plan which calls for the construction of tens of thousands of settlement units to accommodate 250,000 settlers by the year 2048, in the occupied Syrian Golan, and encourages settlers to live there.
The details of the plan came one week after US President Donald Trump declared Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, which were occupied in 1967 along with the West Bank and Gaza.
The Arab summit, held in Tunisia, reiterated its rejection of the American president’s declaration.
According to the official Israeli radio station Makan, the plan, drafted and prepared by the Ministry of Housing and in cooperation with the Golan Regional Council, the settlement council of Katzrin and the Or movement, includes the construction of 30,000 settlement units in the Ketzrin settlement, and the establishment of two new settlements in the Golan, as well as providing 45,000 new jobs and investment in infrastructure related to transportation and tourism, in addition to linking the Golan to the transportation network in Israel.
The plan also aims to develop tourist projects and encourage tourism, to evacuate 80,000 dunams of minefields and to prepare for tourism, commercial and housing development projects.
Commenting on the Trump Declaration on the Golan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, according to the PNN: “Any resolution on the conflict in Syria must guarantee its geographical and territorial integrity, including the occupied territories of the Golan Heights.”
EU Foreign Minister Federica Mugrini, who co-chaired the League of Arab States summit, said “Ignoring the UN Security Council resolution is not the solution.”