By Alaa Rimawi
JERUSALEM
The Jerusalem municipality has approved plans to build 2500 settlement homes in East Jerusalem.
In a Wednesday statement, the municipality said Deputy Mayor Kobi Kahlon has signed an order approving the buildings in the Givat Hamatos settlement, Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It unilaterally annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state – a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to "Judaize" the city with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and ultimately driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.
International law considers the West Bank and East Jerusalem occupied territories taken by Israel in 1967, viewing all Jewish settlement building as illegitimate.
Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building must stop before the resumption of stalled peace talks with Israel.
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