Israeli NGO says only tenders for 18 of 77 units for homes in neighborhoods over Green Line are new.
Israel invited bids on Monday to construct 77 new homes in two neighborhood on land over the Green Line in east Jerusalem, drawing a swift Palestinian condemnation.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said the planned projects were a violation of international law and showed Israel was not interested in peace.
Peace Now, an Israeli group that monitors and opposes settlement-building on land Palestinians seek for a state, said only tenders for 18 of the 77 units were new, and the others were reissued after previous offers were not taken up.
The Israel Lands Authority said 41 of the homes are to be built in Pisgat Ze\’ev and 36 in Neve Ya\’akov, where 63,000 Israelis already live.
The two neighborhoods comprise mainly apartment blocs and are defined by Israel as integral neighborhood of Jerusalem.
Al-Malki told reporters in Ramallah: "Israel\’s measures aim to hinder the establishment of a viable independent Palestinian state that is geographically connected and to prevent the realization of the two-state solution."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is trying to form a governing coalition after his March election victory, has pledged to advance building in east Jerusalem and other areas which Israel says it intends to keep in any future peace deal with the Palestinians.