Palestinian expert Khalil al-Tafakji on Sunday said that Israel is pushing forward a number of settlement plans to complete a circle of Israeli settlements around Al-Quds (Jerusalem) dividing it from the rest of the West Bank.

The new settlement bloc will start from E1 zone east of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and reach the Dead Sea borders. It will have an airport, a railway, a wide road network, and a group of hotels and industrial areas.

Al-Tafakji said in press statements that the project under study is aimed at transforming the southern and central West Bank near the Dead Sea into a magnet for Europe and the Middle East, considering the fact that the area is of great importance at many levels and has a remarkable nature.

The project includes the construction of the largest international airport in Israel which is set to receive 35 million passengers and 12 million tourists annually, he added.

Al-Tafakji pointed out that a huge settlement plan is being implemented in stages and in different areas at the same time. Israel will be investing in the desert area in the southern West Bank and linking it to similar but larger projects in the Negev.