Jerusalem approves construction of 550 houses in east Jerusalem

 A Jerusalem Municipal Committee approved on Wednesday the construction of 550 housing units in east Jerusalem, Israeli media reported. The Planning and Building committee approved building houses in these controversial areas, which Israel annexed during the 1967 Mideast War, along with the West Bank territories. These 550 houses would be built in various neighborhoods including Har Homa, Neve Yaakov and Pisgat Ze'ev. This approval is another bureaucratic step in the approval of these housing units, which were announced last year by the Housing Ministry. The move is expected to draw harsh criticism from the Palestinian Authority, the United States and other members of the international community, which denounce Israel's expansion of its settlements on lands set to be part of the future Palestinian state amid a future peace agreement. Pepe Alalu, a member of the municipality belonging to the left- wing Meretz party, said that the announcement is a "cynical attempt to derail a final status agreement" with the Palestinians, according to a statement he released to local media. The Jerusalem Municipality in its response said that it is building and will continue to build housing units for the residents of Jerusalem, adding it also decided to construct more housing units for the use of Arabs living in villages in east Jerusalem. In January, the Israeli Housing Ministry announced tenders for 1,400 new housing units in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The recent announcement was part of thousands of new housing units announced by Israel in the past several months. Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed last July after a three-year halt, over Israel's expansion of its settlements. The construction in the settlements is coupled with Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners, apparently for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease his far-right coalition members. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry earlier warned that if the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks falter, Israel would suffer from a growing campaign of de-legitimization. European companies had already started conducting boycott against Israel over its settlement policies.