Bereaved parents Rubi Chen, Eyal Waldman, and Yizhar Shai have addressed the Jerusalem Municipality, demanding that the district planning committee not approve next week the allocation of land opposite the Old City to the Arab businessman Bashar al-Masri for the construction of a hotel.
“Currently, there is a major lawsuit in the US by 200 families of the victims of the October 7 massacre against al-Masri, alleging that he funded Hamas and allowed it to use facilities he owned in Gaza-a beachfront hotel and an industrial area near the Israeli border. His properties contained Hamas’ strategic tunnels, a base for its naval commando unit, and other strategic assets that Hamas used to slaughter our children and kill our soldiers," the parents emphasized.
MK Amit Halevi also raised the issue with the head of the Shin Bet. “It is unthinkable that Bashar al-Masri, who supported Hamas and whose hotels served as a base for Hamas terrorism, would receive land from the State of Israel in the heart of Jerusalem, opposite the Temple Mount, for the construction of hotels and luxury residences. There is no greater moral disgrace, and it will not happen. Yesterday, I contacted the head of the Shin Bet and the chair of the Jerusalem District Committee, Shira Talmi, through legal counsel to have this matter immediately removed from the committee’s agenda."
Halevi added, “I stand with the bereaved families, particularly Yizhar Shai, Rubi Rokach, and Eyal Waldman, the parents of Yaron, Eitan, and Daniel, of blessed memory. They sued Bashar al-Masri in the US, claiming that his hotels and industrial buildings served as a cover for a network of Hamas tunnels and command centers built beneath these structures. The lawsuit presents extensive evidence of the direct connection between al-Masri’s properties and Hamas’ murderous and barbaric infrastructure, which led to the mass killing of our children and soldiers.
To think that this man, whose hotel served as a base for the “al-Aqsa" murder campaigns, could receive land from the State of Israel to build a hotel opposite the Temple Mount is unimaginable. I am confident that the Prime Minister and the Mayor will instruct that this disgrace be removed from the committee’s agenda and from our public space altogether," he concluded.