An Israeli Housing Ministry spokesman said his department is seeking bids to build 307 new housing units in Har Homa, a disputed Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, drawing Palestinian condemnations that the move is undermining the newly revived peace talks held last week in Annapolis, Maryland.
Israel captured the eastern part of the city in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed the area. The Palestinians claim it as the capital of a future state.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he sent an urgent message to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, asking her to block the project from moving forward.
“This is undermining Annapolis,” he said, referring to the U.S.-hosted summit, where Israel and the Palestinians relaunched peace talks.
The two sides agreed to base their peace talks on the U.S.-backed “road map,” a peace plan that calls on Israel to halt all settlement construction.
The Palestinians consider any construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to be settlement activity. Israel says the settlement freeze does not apply to Jerusalem.
“Israel makes a clear distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel has never made a commitment to limit our sovereignty in Jerusalem. Implementation of the first phase of the road map does not apply to Jerusalem,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.