Tel Aviv - Israel will promote the construction of more than 1 000 homes in East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Monday.
“The government has decided to advance planning for some 1 000 new housing units in Jerusalem,” an official in the prime minister's office confirmed to reporters on condition of anonymity.
He said 400 apartments are to be built in Har Homa and over 600 in Har Shlomo. Both are what Israel calls “neighbourhoods” of Jerusalem because they fall within the Israeli-drawn municipal boundaries.
But the international community calls them Jewish settlements, because they were built on West Bank land, beyond the “green line” separating Israel from occupied Palestinian territory.
“In addition, planning will be advanced for infrastructure projects in the West Bank, including roads to be used by Palestinians,” the official said.
The confirmation came after Israel's Channel 2 reported late on Sunday that Netanyahu, in a meeting last week, struck a deal with far-right Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, in a bid to ensure coalition stability.
Under the reported deal, more than 2 000 new apartments would be built in East Jerusalem and across the West Bank, and 12 roads paved.
The plans are likely to spark severe international criticism.
The Palestinians charge that the ongoing Israeli settlement expansion compromises the chances for a two-state solution to the conflict. - Sapa-dpa