Israel is reportedly advancing a major development plan of nearly 5,000 housing units and hotel rooms near Jerusalem’s Hebron Road, which connects the country’s capital to Judea.
The proposal—dubbed the Hebron Road Strip due to its proximity to the traffic artery—moved through a crucial planning process stage, Israeli media reported.
The expansion is a joint initiative between an Israeli company and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, which owns some of the land in the area. The church previously said that a significant portion of the new project is intended for members of Jerusalem’s Christian community.
The project—set to be built near the Givat Hamatos neighborhood and along a light rail route currently under construction—would more than double the number of housing units in the area, expanding eastwards toward the holy city’s Har Homa neighborhood, per reports.
Located just over the 1949 Armistice Line, Givat Hamatos is bordered by Jerusalem’s largest neighborhoods, including Gilo to the south and Har Homa to the east. It abuts the Arab area of Beit Safafa to the west and is just outside the Talpiot Industrial Zone to the north.
The European Union has long opposed Israeli construction plans in Givat Hamatos, with Brussels saying in 2021 that “the E.U. will not recognize any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties,” meaning Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
At the time, Jerusalem deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told JNS that Givat HaMatos “simply supplies demands of building and growth.” (Hassan-Nahoum now co-hosts a JNS podcast.)
“The fact that the E.U. doesn’t accept the reality that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel shows that they are living in an alternative universe,” the Jerusalem deputy mayor stated at the time.
