January 24, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 14, 1429

JERUSALEM, Jan 23: Israel has authorised the construction of nearly 2,500 new housing units in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem, the city authorities said on Wednesday.

The Palestinians slammed the move, saying it was torpedoing peace negotiations that the two sides revived under US stewardship in late November after a seven-year freeze.

Jerusalem spokesman Gidi Shmerling said that the city authorities “have obtained all the necessary authorisations for the building of 8,000 new housing units in Jerusalem.” According to a list of the units authorised, 2,461 of them are in neighbourhoods in annexed and occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to make the capital of their promised state.Construction is due to begin shortly in the Jewish areas of Ramot, Pisgat Zeev, Armon Hantsiv and Har Homa in the eastern part of the Holy City.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas slammed the new construction, which comes despite Palestinian demands that Israel freeze all settlement activity while the two sides engage in renewed negotiations.

“By pursuing its settlement projects Israel is shunning its responsibility to hold serious negotiations and is thus torpedoing the points agreed at Annapolis,” Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

He was referring to the US conference in late November at which the two sides revived their negotiations after a seven-year halt.

Since then, the issue of Israel expanding its settlements, notably in east Jerusalem, has repeatedly hampered the talks.

Israel does not consider its building projects in east Jerusalem to be settlements, as it annexed the Arab east part of the Holy City shortly after capturing it from Jordan during the 1967 Six Day War and has since proclaimed it its “eternal, undivided capital.” The international community does not recognise the annexation and considers all Israeli settlements on captured Arab land to be illegal.—AFP