West Bank settlement: Israeli court rejects challenge

The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday rejected a petition by rights groups seeking to halt development of a settlement east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

The court said it had dismissed a motion aimed at delaying publication of tenders for the project. Israel's construction and housing ministry opened a tender in July for more than 1,200 housing units, prompting NGOs to file motions against it.

The judge ruled that "no irreversible physical changes are imminent, and adequate legal safeguards are in place". The ruling said courts could issue a permanent decision on the project as a whole before physical construction begins.

The petitioners, including Israeli NGO Peace Now, argued that the project would lead to the eviction of hundreds of Palestinians. The NGOs said after the ruling that the decision allowed the government to create conditions on the ground that would be difficult to reverse.

The E1 plan was approved by Israel last year after decades in which it had been frozen, including because of pressure from successive US administrations. The project would further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Six European countries, including the UK and France, called on Israel to halt the project in August. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where more than 500,000 settlers live alongside about three million Palestinians.