Israel to build 14 settler homes in east Jerusalem

Israel has approved the construction of a new Jewish enclave in the heart of a Palestinian neighbourhood of annexed east Jerusalem, state-owned Channel One TV reported on Wednesday. It said 14-home project, to be named Maale David, was approved late on Wednesday by Jerusalem city council's planning committee and was likely to spark fresh international condemnation of Israel's settlements policy. It is to be sited in the Arab neighbourhood of Ras al-Amud, near an existing Jewish settlement of 1,000 people, the report said. "By this decision the committee is throwing oil on the flames... encouraging the settlers, their very explosive and problematic presence in this neighbourhood," Yudith Oppenheimer, of Israeli NGO Ir Amim which lobbies for co-existence in Jerusalem, told the channel.