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Occupied Jerusalem: Israel's housing minister said on Tuesday preparations were underway to build more than 1,000 new homes in and around Arab East Jerusalem, which Palestinians see as capital of a future state.
Housing Minister Zeev Boim said the municipality of Jerusalem was preparing to issue tenders for 750 housing units in a northern area known as Pisgat Zeev, as well as 307 units to the south in what is known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim.
US-backed peace talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas bogged down late last year after Israel announced plans to build hundreds of new homes in Har Homa.
"We are building in Jerusalem everywhere within its municipal boundaries," Boim told Israel Radio.
Under US pressure, Olmert has imposed a de facto halt to new construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, but he has not called off plans to build new homes within the boundaries of Jerusalem as defined by Israel.
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