Palestinians condemn latest Israel settlement plan

Palestinian officials on Friday condemned an Israeli plan to build 1,550 housing units on annexed land around Jerusalem, authorized the day Israeli Prime Minister set off for talks in Washington.

An Israeli Interior Ministry spokeswoman said a planning committee had approved two building projects in Pisgat Zeev and Har Homa. These urban settlements were built on land that Israel annexed after a 1967 war, in a move not recognized internationally, and that it sees as Jerusalem neighborhoods. (Reuters)