JERUSALEM - Israel announced plans on Sunday to build hundreds of new homes in an area of the occupied West Bank the Israeli government considers part of Jerusalem, despite US and Palestinian calls to halt settlement expansion. The announcement came two days before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sets off for Washington for a three-day visit where he will meet US President George W. Bush.
Housing Minister Zeev Boim instructed his office to publish a tender to build an additional 763 housing units in Pisgat Zeev and 121 housing units at Har Homa, an area Palestinians refer to as Jabal Abu Ghneim. Last month Boim instructed his office to publish a tender to build 286 new homes in the Jewish settlement of Beitar Illit, near Jerusalem.
Both sites are located on lands captured by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war, and were incorporated into the municipal borders of Jerusalem in an act not recognised internationally.
Olmert later praised the housing plan at a meeting of his Kadima faction. ‘We need to continue to strengthen Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel. This government is committed to it, it has been since its first day. It has lived up to its commitment and will continue to add and expand,’ Olmert said. |