JERUSALEM — Israel has given preliminary approval for 130 new apartments in disputed east Jerusalem.
Monday’s decision by Jerusalem city authorities comes as peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are at a standstill over building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
City Hall spokesman Elie Isaacson says the new housing was approved for Gilo, a Jewish housing development in east Jerusalem. The project still needs final approval from Israel’s Interior Ministry to go ahead.
Palestinians want the eastern part of Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Israel says east Jerusalem, captured in the 1967 Mideast war, is an inseparable part of its capital.