Israel har tatt frem planer om å bygge 900 nye boenheter i Øst-Jerusalem, i et område, Gilo, som Israel anser for å tilhøre landet, selv om det ligger i Øst-Jerusalem.

Det hvis hus uttalte at forslaget var forstemmende. Palestinerne vurderer ensidig proklamasjon av en egen stat, men har foreløpig ikke fått støtte fra annet enn araberstatene.

The Obama administration at first insisted on a full Israeli settlement freeze but later seemed to accept an Israeli offer to curb construction, a position that has put the Palestinian president in a difficult position.

Israel’s latest offer would allow the completion or building of some 3,000 housing units already at various stages of planning and construction in the West Bank. It refuses to include Jerusalem in any freeze.

The 900 housing units that Israel on Tuesday said had moved closer toward approval are in addition to those houses.

The 900 houses are in Gilo, an area in southern Jerusalem considered by Israel to be a neighborhood of the city and by the Palestinians and much of the world to be a settlement that violates international law. Israel claims sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, having annexed the eastern part after capturing it from Jordan in the 1967 war.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the Palestinian Authority “strongly condemns” the decision to advance the construction in Gilo.

The plans for Gilo still require final authorization, according to a spokesman for Jerusalem’s City Hall.

Plan to Expand Jewish Area in Jerusalem Angers U.S