Agence France Presse reported Wednesday that Israel's government has granted its final approval to build 186 new settler homes in east Jerusalem.
Forty of the homes are set to be built in Pisgat Zeev and 146 for Har Homa, both of which are settlement neighborhoods that were built on territory that Israel seized during the 1967 Six Day War. The annexed Arab areas have not been recognized as legal under international law.
The new settlement construction plans are likely to further undermine the latest round of peace talks, and further coincide with heated debate over whether Israel will release the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners as specified under the peace negotiation agreements.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks as the April 29 peace deal deadline nears, with Palestinians refusing to extend the talks and Israelis urging for a longer timeline. The U.S., who helped to broker the latest round of talks is trying to urge both sides to extend the deadline to the end of 2014.
