Israel approves settlements in East Jerusalem

An Israeli planning committee has advanced a plan to build 69 housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa, Aljazeera reported Thursday, quoting Israel Radio. The Jerusalem municipality said on Wednesday that the construction project, which was built more than a decade ago and now houses 12,000 Israelis, was not new and had already passed earlier planning stages, Aljazeera said. Palestinian officials condemned the latest authorization as a "message" to US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is trying to revive long-stalled Middle East peace negotiations. Har Homa is a particularly contentious area on Jerusalem's southern outskirts where construction is likely to have a serious impact on the sector's boundary with the West Bank, experts say.