On 20 April 2026 the Jerusalem District Planning Committee approved an 11-storey ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious school known as Or Somayach, or the Glassman Yeshiva, in the heart of Sheikh Jarrah. The project will rise on five dunams of land at the southern entrance to the neighbourhood, directly opposite Sheikh Jarrah Mosque. It includes dormitories for hundreds of students and residential units for teaching staff. Palestinian officials immediately condemned the move, saying it deliberately exploits the current regional distractions.

While fragile ceasefires hold in Gaza and Lebanon and attention shifts to Iran, Israel is pressing ahead with its settler-colonial project in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This latest step in Sheikh Jarrah is no isolated event. It is part of a systematic drive to displace Palestinians and implant settlers, killing off any realistic two-state solution and breaking international law. Palestinian families are bearing the brunt.

The decision is the latest chapter in a decades-long campaign. Occupation authorities seized the land years ago under the pretext of “public needs” and handed it in 2007 to the US-linked Or Somayach Institutions.

If the complex is built, it will sharply increase the settler population, tighten security controls and change the character of the neighbourhood beyond recognition. Residents already endure daily harassment, restricted movement and the constant threat of eviction.

If the complex is built, it will sharply increase the settler population, tighten security controls and change the character of the neighbourhood beyond recognition. Residents already endure daily........

© Middle East Monitor