The decision to advance settlement expansion in East Jerusalem with some 1,000 new housing units in Gilo, has been deplored by Foreign Minister Tonio Borg.

In a statement this morning he said:

"I call on the Israeli authorities to reverse this plan."

He said that he fully supported the EU's high representative Catherine Ashton's request for the measure to be revoked.

Last week, the Quartet on the Middle East - the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia, called on the Israelis and Palestinians to refrain from provocative actions if negotiations are to resume and be effective, and reiterated the obligations of both parties under the "roadmap", a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This decision runs counter to the climate of trust between the parties that the international community called for in New York.

"I feel that now, as never before, there is a need to refrain from actions that are bound to provoke and rekindle tensions," Dr Borg said.

Israel's interior ministry on Tuesday signed a plan to build 1,100 new homes in Gilo in annexed east Jerusalem.