Israeli authorities have advanced a new plan to establish a large illegal settlement neighbourhood inside the Palestinian neighbourhood of Umm Lison in occupied East Jerusalem, an Israeli rights group warned.

In a statement, the Ir Amim organisation said the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a plan to build about 450 illegal settlement housing units in Umm Lison, after the project had been frozen for more than two years due to infrastructure-related obstacles.

Umm Lison lies between the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jabal al-Mukabber and Sur Baher in occupied East Jerusalem and currently includes around 800 Palestinian housing units.

Demographic and structural shifts

According to Ir Amim, the new settlement project is expected to significantly alter the neighbourhood's urban and demographic character by introducing hundreds of illegal settlement units into an existing Palestinian residential area.

The organisation described the project as "unprecedented" in scale within Palestinian neighbourhoods in occupied East Jerusalem.

It warned that the project could house around 2,000 illegal Israeli settlers, increasing friction with Palestinian residents and undermining stability in the area.

Ir Amim said the Jerusalem municipality's move reflects "a clear political choice" to promote illegal settlement expansion rather than an ordinary planning decision.

The group also accused the municipality of favouring occupiers' interests at the expense of Palestinian residents and their rights in the city.

The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

Palestinians insist on occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, based on international resolutions that do not recognise Israel's 1967 occupation or its 1980 annexation of the city.