Details about new Israeli plans to build over 230 new homes for Jewish settlers in Arab east Jerusalem were emerged on Friday. The move to build some 240 new housing units in the settlement neighbourhoods of Pisgat Zeev and Ramot, was approved late on Thursday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP cited Israeli press sources as saying.
Israel's settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announcement was likely to further damage efforts to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. "The fact is that someone -- either the housing minister or the prime minister -- is trying to make a point: they want to make it harder on peace efforts," Peace Now's Hagit Ofran told AFP.
"Such a decision is going to be a problem for the continuation of the talks and this is exactly what they were trying to achieve."
