More than 300 homes have been approved by Israel to be built on illegal Jewish settlement sites in occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli Housing Ministry said construction firms have already been invited to bid for the contracts.

Such construction was supposed to cease as part of Israel’s commitment to the Annapolis conference. Israel claims it is not violating the agreement because it does not consider any site in Jerusalem to be part of Palestinian land. In contrast to that claim, Palestinians say the site of the settlement is part of the territory that they want for a state. “Israel makes a clear distinction between the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which falls under Israeli sovereignty,” said Israeli Prime Minister Olmert.

A tender posted on the Israel Land Authority’s website and dated December 2, invited firms to bid to build 307 “residential and/or commercial and/or hotels and/or leisure” units. An Israeli housing ministry spokeswoman said it was part of a 20-year-old plan.

That annexation is not recognized internationally, but Israel has housed thousands of Jews in such developments, lying between East Jerusalem and Palestinian towns in the West Bank.

Abbas said at Annapolis he wanted East Jerusalem as capital of a state he hopes can be established by a treaty before Bush steps down.

Another negotiation is planned for December 12th in Jerusalem, which Israel wants entirely to itself. That issue, along with the Palestinian right to return, security, and borders, are said to be the topics of the negotiation. Olmert once again played down the chance that anything would be resolved. Ignoring the fact that occupation and annexation are the direct cause of armed resistance, Olmert insisted that Palestinians curb all violence before agreements could be made.

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