Israel plans more settlement housing units in occupied East Jerusalem: Peace Now

Israel is pushing ahead with the construction of more settlement housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the human rights organization Peace Now.

The relevant planning committee of the municipality has approved plans for 3,557 new housing units, a spokeswoman for the organization confirmed on Thursday.

"All of these plans are bad news for the stability of Jerusalem and for the chances of peace," Peace Now wrote on its website.

Some of the planned housing units, however, are particularly problematic because they will make continuity between Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem impossible.

Israel's settlement policy is highly controversial. At the end of 2016, the UN Security Council called on Israel to implement a complete settlement freeze in the occupied Palestinian territories, including occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories, in 1967. Today, more than 600,000 Jewish settlers live there.

The Palestinians, on the other hand, want the territories for an independent state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital.