Ras Khamis () is a neighborhood in

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

. In 2007, construction of the

Israeli West Bank Barrier The West Bank barrier, West Bank wall or the West Bank separation barrier, is a separation barrier built by Israel along the Green Line (Israel), Green Line and inside parts of the West Bank. Israel describes the wall as a necessary securi ...

cut off Ras Khamis from the rest of East Jerusalem, with the barrier completed in 2010. Presently, access to the rest of the city is via a single checkpoint. Subsequently, in 2012, municipal services such as

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

, utilities, police and fire services, and garbage were discontinued in Ras Khamis and other neighborhoods that were separated by the barrier from the rest of the city. However, as the land was still claimed by Israel, the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

did not provide government services either. Due to the housing shortage in the region, many high rise apartment buildings have been constructed in Ras Khamis, which as of 2014 is estimated to have a population of 20,000. The buildings are not approved by city planning and many have been threatened with demolition.

References

Neighbourhoods of Jerusalem Populated places with year of establishment missing {{Israel-geo-stub

See also

References