Israel approves new homes near Jerusalem

Defying the United States, Israel yesterday approved the building of 900 homes for Jews on West Bank land it occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.

The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said President Barack Obama's envoy, George Mitchell, had asked an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at a meeting in London on Monday, to block the proposed construction at the settlement of Gilo.

But a government planning commission approved the addition of 900 housing units at Gilo, where 40,000 Israelis already live. Israel rejects the international description of Gilo as a settlement and says it is a neighbourhood of Jerusalem, the city it claims as its capital.

The commission's decision seemed likely to strengthen the Palestinians' determination not to resume peace talks until settlement expansion is halted. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev declined comment on the Yedioth Ahronoth report, which said Mr Netanyahu's negotiator had rejected Mr Mitchell's request.

Mr Regev repeated Israel's refusal to include areas it annexed to Jerusalem as part of any accommodation of President Obama's calls for "restraint" in West Bank settlement growth.

A spokesman for Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, issued a statement that seemed to confirm the report, saying the mayor "strongly objects to the American demand to halt construction in Jerusalem".

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki condemned the decision as a further step by Israel "intended to prevent the Palestinian state from happening."

US officials were not immediately available for comment.