Israel defies U.S., builds new homes

Israel building new homes in east Jerusalem settlement

Israel has begun constructing 66 new homes in an east Jerusalem settlement, according to an AFP correspondent who visited the area on Tuesday, in a move likely to anger Palestinians.

The development comes as Israel and the Palestinians are engaged in the most serious peace talks in years aimed at solving the thorniest issues of the Middle East conflict, including the future status of Jerusalem.

Infrastructure work for new homes is under way in Maaleh Hazeitim, in the Ras al-Amud area of east Jerusalem which Israel occupied and annexed in the 1967 war and which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

"We are building 66 new apartments in three buildings," said David Ben Hamo, the manager of the construction site where a cornerstone was laid in a ceremony on Sunday.

"We have all the necessary papers and authorisation for the construction work," he told AFP.

Some 60 Jewish families already live in the neighbourhood, built on land bought 15 years ago by US millionaire Irwin Moskowitz. Armed security men guard both the construction site and nearby buildings.

A similar project to build more than 300 homes in the Jewish neighbourhood of Har Homa in east Jerusalem infuriated Palestinians when it was announced in early December, less than a week after the formal revival of peace talks. More