E. Jerusalem Settlements Rile Palestinians

The contentious issue of post-Annapolis Israeli settlement has flared up again after the government began construction of hundreds of new homes in East Jerusalem, the putative capital of an independent Palestine. Although PM Ehud Olmert has frozen construction of new homes in the West Bank, the housing minister said today the freeze doesn't apply to East Jerusalem, reports Haaretz.

"There is no delay, limitation, or suspension of the construction of Jewish neigbhorhoods in East Jerusalem," Ze'ev Boim told an Israeli radio station. The government is planning to build up to 10,000 new apartments in Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, a part of the territories annexed by Israel in 1967. The Palestinian PM accused Israel of failing to keep its promise to freeze settlement. (More East Jerusalem stories.)