The Ministry of Transportation and the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem announced that it will implement the expansion of Road 60 (Al-Tunafa Street south of Jerusalem) through the Israeli company Moria.
According to the sign placed near the site of the work, the ongoing work will include the construction of two tunnels in addition to a public transport route to be completed in December 2022.
Israeli bulldozers started the expansion and bulldozing work in the area before the first tunnel on the Jerusalem side, in conjunction with other work on the other side after the military tunnel barrier and before the tunnel leading to Jerusalem.
Moriya said on its website that the tunnel road suffers from a traffic crisis throughout the day, particularly in the morning, where settlers from Gush Etzion settle in the direction of Jerusalem and in the evening from the opposite route. And Hadassah tours.
The company noted that since there is an increase in the population, the number of vehicles traveling on the street is increasing daily and there is only this street, which calls for the establishment of two tunnels to facilitate traffic in the street and end the suffocating traffic crisis.
The director of the office of the Wall and Settlement Authority in Bethlehem, Hassan Brijieh, said: "The Israeli occupation forces have bulldozed lands in al-Makhour area northwest of Beit Jala in Bethlehem governorate, to build an underground tunnel similar to another that connects Jerusalem with the Gush Etzion settlement complex." Within a distance of approximately one kilometer, within the framework of the extension of the bypass road "60".
He added: "The sweeping will rob dozens of dunums of land in Beit Jala, in light of the fierce settlement attack on the area, the last of which was the demolition of a restaurant and a house of Ramzi Qaisia ​​three days ago."
