Occupied Jerusalem, Nov 5 (Petra) – The Israeli occupation authority announced on Wednesday two tenders for building a new neighborhood in a Jewish settlement built on Palestinian land northeast of occupied Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate called the announcement for the new construction in the settlement of Adam/Geva Binyamin a "dangerous escalation" in Israel's settlement expansion drive and the annexation of more land on the northeastern slopes of the holy city.

It is part of "a frantic race to impose a new demographic and geographic reality to serve the Greater Jerusalem scheme," it said in a statement.

The statement said Israel's Ministry of Housing published two tenders; one for construction of 342 settler units in five complexes and the second includes 14 detached houses for army reservists.

The project, approved in January, involves expanding the settlement's built-up area by about 150 dunams towards the Bedouin community of Jaba', east of the occupied city.

Since the start of the year, the occupation authority has announced a total of 5,667 new settlement units in the West Bank and Jerusalem, an unprecedented record breaking figure, double from a peak recorded in 2018.

In occupied Jerusalem, dozens of right-wing Israelis and settlers breached the Al-Aqsa Mosque/ Haram Al Sharif compound under heavy protection by police.

The extremists stormed the complex in the early morning hours and performed prayers on its grounds under tight security, in the latest provocation against Muslim worshippers and guards, according to a press release by the Islamic Waqf Department, the custodian of the compound.

//Petra//SS