Israel to build 700 apartments in east Jerusalem

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev says Israel plans to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, AP reported.

The move is sure to outrage Palestinians, who claim the eastern sector of the city as a future capital.

Palestinians consider Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem to be settlements and say such construction impedes peacemaking.

Israel claims all of the city its capital and does not consider those neighborhoods to be settlements. Israel captured east Jerusalem, home to sensitive Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites, in the 1967 Mideast war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not include east Jerusalem in the settlement construction slowdown he declared several weeks ago. The slowdown applies only to the West Bank.