Dozens of houses in the east Jerusalem Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan are at risk of collapsing due to a controversial Israeli tunnel project.
The neighborhood’s community hub, the Silwan Information Centre, warned dozens of Palestinian buildings in the occupied neighborhood are at risk of collapse due to the construction of an Israeli settlement tunnel, as a part of the Kedem settlement project.
Is US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman violating international law by hammering through a wall to open a tunnel under Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem? pic.twitter.com/aoMw4bPoCa
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) July 1, 2019
The Silwan Information Centre warned in a statement that continued digging of a complex network of tunnels under the neighborhood by Israeli authorities as part of the eight-year-old settlement project is destroying the environment.
The continued digging of tunnels in the neighborhood has caused large landslides and cracks in several areas across Silwan, especially on the main road, the center said.
More than 80 houses have been damaged and five houses have been classified as dangerous to live in by the Israeli Jerusalem municipality after their foundations were damaged. The illegal tunnel is being named ‘Pilgrimage Tunnel’ by Israeli authorities.
The participation of the American 'peace team' in the East Jerusalem ceremony shows that in times of Trump, lunacy has no limits @ChemiShalev | Opinion https://t.co/HDmKcVgqmT
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) July 1, 2019
The tunnel, which is dangerous and illegal under international law, has been endorsed by senior US politicians.
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and US Mideast Envoy Jason Greenblatt on Sunday joined an Israeli settler-linked group at the opening ceremony of the tunnel.
Astonishing provocation.
This is Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, in the company of Mrs Netanyahu, getting a bloody great hammer and breaking open a tunnel which runs under the Palestinian village of Silwan to the old city of Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/qE8Sx3yoEf
— Rachael Swindon #EL4C (@Rachael_Swindon) June 30, 2019
Friedman has been a supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and Greenblatt last week said he preferred to call them “neighborhoods and cities” rather than settlements.
Israel took over mainly Palestinian east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.
(Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, PC, Social Media)
