Israel's Interior Ministry authorised a major construction project in East Jerusalem Thursday, approving the building of over 900 homes in Har Homa, on the southern outskirts of the city, DPA reported
A ministry spokeswoman was unavailable to say when the project would get underway, but Israeli media said construction of the 930 homes is estimated to begin within two to three years.
Approval for the project had been due in May, but was postponed twice.
However, the Interior Ministry was quoted in the Jerusalem Post daily as saying the construction of the new homes was a partial solution to Israel's lack of affordable housing, a crisis which since mid-July has seen thousands of Israelis pitch tent camps in major cities across the country to protest the spiraling cost of homes.
Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war, and effectively annexed it shortly afterward. Successive Israeli governments have rejected the international consensus that construction of Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem constitutes settlement activity.
Palestinians have demanded a freeze on Israeli construction in East Jerusalem as a condition for renewing peace talks, which have been stalled for nearly one year.
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