The Israeli North District Planning and Construction Committee chaired by Eran Nitzan has officially submitted a new comprehensive outline plan for the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights.
The plan promoted by the Local Planning Division of the Planning Administration, accompanied by an inter-ministerial steering committee and in cooperation with the Majdal Shams local council and the regional Ma'ale Hermon local committee, includes the addition of approximately 2,700 housing units that will meet the target population of approximately 16,800 residents. The plan establishes an overall planning framework for Majdal Shams and is the basis for the preparation and approval of detailed plans that correspond to it.
At the Syrian border, near Majdal Shams at the northernmost point in Israel. The closed border and Syrian military watchtower behind me. Today it's not just Syria but Iran & Russia as well. pic.twitter.com/62oMo7uFC7
ā Monica Crowley (@MonicaCrowley) April 20, 2018
Majdal Shams is a local council located on the slopes of Mount Hermon, the tallest mountain in the state of Israel, brought under Israeli control at the end of the Six-day war and officially annexed along with the entire Golan Heights in 1981. The jurisdiction of the Druze town, which is highly loyal to the Jewish state with few exceptions, is about 16,000 dunams (3,953 acres) and currently has about 11,500 residents.
The plan includes three new development areas: a southwestern neighborhood "New Majdal", in an area of āā726 dunams (179 acres) that will include 1,300 housing units in a building of up to 6 floors; "Rihan" a neighborhood with an area of āā335 dunams (83 acres), located in the southeast of the community, which includes 960 housing units in a building of up to 4 floors; and a northwestern neighborhood, with an area of āā353 dunams (87 acres), which includes 850 housing units in a building style of up to 5 story buildings.
Majdal shams early morning pic.twitter.com/DC470rof6H
ā amani (@amani90___) March 21, 2023
In addition to the housing units, the plan includes 73,000 square meters for tourists with the establishment of new hotels, guest rooms, and hotel rooms, 705,000 square meters for commercial and employment areas, and 815,000 square meters for public buildings. Also, the plan allows for the expansion and regulation of The holy Druze burial site Nabi Yafouri located in the southern part of the town.
Hill of Shouts near the Druze village of Majdal Shams at the foot of Mount Hermon, from where Druze families donduct conversations with their relatives living across the ceasefire line in Syria, by means of shouting, hand waving, and megaphones. pic.twitter.com/GPutm6Dzjt
ā amani (@amani90___) March 30, 2023
"The plan is the fruit of a large-scale planning effort promoted in recent years in all the Druze towns in the north of Israel," explains the Chairman of the North District Committee, Eran Nitzan. "Majdel Shams, the highest and northernmost town in Israel is expected to become a significant tourist attraction in the region. The development of this settlement, the increase of housing units, and the establishment of hotels and accommodation units are good and promising news for the entire north."
