By Anees Bargouthi

JERUSALEM (AA): The Israeli government has issued tenders for the construction of 323 new housing units for Jewish settlers in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli media reported Wednesday.

According to Israeli Radio, the plan includes 130 new housing units in the Jewish-only Har Homa settlement and another 89 units in the Gilo settlement.

“Another 68 housing units are slated for construction in the Pisgat Ze’ev settlement and 36 units in the Neve Ya’akov settlement north of East Jerusalem,” the broadcaster reported.

According to official figures, the Israeli government plans to build a total of 900 new housing units for Jewish settlers in and around East Jerusalem in July.

International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement-building on the land to be illegal.

Roughly 500,000 Israelis now live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967.

The Palestinians want these areas — along with the Gaza Strip — for the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building on Arab land must stop before a comprehensive peace agreement can be reached.

[Photo: More illegal settlements to be built by Israeli occupying forces in East Jerusalem. Photo by Berthold Werner for Public Domain]