Jerusalem city council on Monday approved the construction of 942 new homes in Gilo, a settlement neighbourhood in the city's mostly Arab eastern sector, a councillor told AFP.
Elisha Peleg, a councillor from the right-wing Likud party, confirmed that the new construction in Gilo, close to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, had been approved during an afternoon session of the district planning council.
"Of course we approved it, it is only the first step," he told AFP, saying it was approved by five in favour and one against.
The municipality said this project was in addition to an earlier tranche of more than 900 new homes in Gilo approved in November 2009, which brought sharp condemnation from Washington which expressed "dismay" over the move.
The latest decision came a day ahead of a top-level meeting at the White House between Israeli President Shimon Peres and US President Barack Obama.
Gilo lies in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the inter