20:00 GMT +319 September 2019

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 2nd left, his wife Sara Netanyahu, left, Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, 3rd left, US President's daughter Ivanka Trump, center, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, attend the opening ceremony of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, Monday, May 14, 2018

Israeli Authorities Approve Expansion of US Embassy in Jerusalem – Reports

© AP Photo / Sebastian Scheiner

17:11 03.08.2018Get short URL

103

Subscribe

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israeli authorities authorized the enlargement of the US Embassy in Jerusalem on Friday amid the escalation of crisis with Palestine over the relocation of the diplomatic mission to the disputed city, the Israel Television News Company reported.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem was opened in May. The embassy was relocated to the building of the former US consulate in the city.

According to the Israel Television News Company, the municipal council approved the expansion by 700 square meters (7,500 square feet), enlarging the second floor and the basement.

READ MORE: How US Embassy Transfer Risks Driving a Wedge Between Israel, Arab World

A balloon flies near the Dome of Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third most holy site, in the old city of Jerusalem

© AFP 2019 / AHMAD GHARABLI

Israeli Minister Calls on Russia to Follow US in Moving Embassy to Jerusalem

Moreover, the United States plans to further enlarge the embassy in the future, with the new construction being only the first stage of expansion, according to the media outlet.

The relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem, a city claimed both by the Israelis and the Palestinians, was met with violent riots at the Gaza Strip border. Over 60 Palestinian protesters were killed and more than 2,700 others injured by Israel security forces during the unrest on opening day, according to the Palestinian authorities.

Related:: Turkish Organizations Launch Widescale Protests of US Israel Embassy Move

: What's Behind Theresa May's Refusal to Follow US Lead on Israel Embassy Move?

: State Dept. Says US Embassy in Jerusalem Will Open on Israel's 70th Anniversary

Tags:

embassy, Israel, United States, Jerusalem

Community standardsDiscussion

Comment via FacebookComment via Sputnik

Сomment
Thank you! Your comment will be reviewed by the moderator for compliance with the Rules
Add more
Post limit reached. Please try again in a minute.
Your comment contains a link, so it can't be published on our site

Сomment

Community standards

The fact of registration and authorization of users on Sputnik websites via users’ account or accounts on social networks indicates acceptance of these rules.

Users are obliged abide by national and international laws. Users are obliged to speak respectfully to the other participants in the discussion, readers and individuals referenced in the posts.

The websites’ administration has the right to delete comments made in languages other than the language of the majority of the websites’ content.

In all language versions of the sputniknews.com websites any comments posted can be edited.

A user comment will be deleted if it:

does not correspond with the subject of the post;
promotes hatred and discrimination on racial, ethnic, sexual, religious or social basis or violates the rights of minorities;
violates the rights of minors, causing them harm in any form, including moral damage;
contains ideas of extremist nature or calls for other illegal activities;
contains insults, threats to other users, individuals or specific organizations, denigrates dignity or undermines business reputations;
contains insults or messages expressing disrespect to Sputnik;
violates privacy, distributes personal data of third parties without their consent or violates privacy of correspondence;
describes or references scenes of violence, cruelty to animals;
contains information about methods of suicide, incites to commit suicide;
pursues commercial objectives, contains improper advertising, unlawful political advertisement or links to other online resources containing such information;
promotes products or services of third parties without proper authorization;
contains offensive language or profanity and its derivatives, as well as hints of the use of lexical items falling within this definition;
contains spam, advertises spamming, mass mailing services and promotes get-rich-quick schemes;
promotes the use of narcotic / psychotropic substances, provides information on their production and use;
contains links to viruses and malicious software;
is part of an organized action involving large volumes of comments with identical or similar content ("flash mob");
“floods” the discussion thread with a large number of incoherent or irrelevant messages;
violates etiquette, exhibiting any form of aggressive, humiliating or abusive behavior ("trolling");
doesn’t follow standard rules of the English language, for example, is typed fully or mostly in capital letters or isn’t broken down into sentences.

The administration has the right to block a user’s access to the page or delete a user’s account without notice if the user is in violation of these rules or if behavior indicating said violation is detected.

Users can initiate the recovery of their account / unlock access by contacting the moderators at moderator@sputniknews.com

The letter must contain:

Subject - the restoration of account / unlock access
User ID
An explanation of the actions which were in violation of the rules above and resulted in the lock.

If the moderators deem it possible to restore the account / unlock access, it will be done.

In the case of repeated violations of the rules above resulting in a second block of a user’s account, access cannot be restored.

To contact the team of moderators, write to moderator@sputniknews.com