Israel to build new homes in east Jerusalem

An Israeli commission has approved the building of 920 new homes in occupied east Jerusalem, the municipality said yesterday, in a new blow to shaky peace talks with the Palestinians.
“The district commission has approved for construction 920 housing units in Har Homa," a statement said, referring to a neighbourhood in east Jerusalem, known in Arabic as Jabel Abu Ghneim, that has more than 10,000 residents.
The Har Homa project is part of a plan to build some 40,000 new homes over the next decade in neighbourhoods in both east and west Jerusalem, that the housing minister approved in June, a ministry official told AFP.