The Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee issued details of a programme that grants 978 housing units to be built in Har Homa, an illegal Jewish settlement south of the city centre.
Further 320 units are planned for Ramot, which also lies outside the Green Line that virtually divides the eastern & western part of Jerusalem.
The plans were announced as Israeli Prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu, visits the U.S.A, where he met with Joe Biden, the US vice president, to talk about the peace process.
This move prompted a furious reaction from the chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Erakat said, “We thought that Netanyahu was going to the United States to stop settlement activity and restart negotiations but it is clear to us that he is determined to destroy the talks”.
“He has shut all the doors to negotiations and we hold him responsible for destroying them.” he added.
