The Israeli Housing Ministry announced Sunday that it will soon publish tenders for 1,730 housing units situated beyond the green line, lands annexed during the 1967 Mideast War, Xinhua reported.
According to the ministry's statement, 698 of the houses would be built in east Jerusalem and 1,032 apartments are to be built in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
However, building houses on these lands is vehemently opposed by the international community, which objects to Israel's occupation of those territories, and the Palestinian National Authority, which strives to build a Palestinian state on those lands, among others.
In east Jerusalem, 387 out of the apartments will be established in Ramat Shlomo and 311 apartment in the neighborhood of Gilo. The remaining units would be built in the neighborhood of Har Homa.
The apartments in the West Bank will be built in Karnei Shomron, Maaleh Adumim, Giva'at Ze'ev and Betar Illit near Jerusalem, among others.
"To bring about real change in the (high) home prices, we intend to move ahead on plans to further boost housing starts and effective marketing of land nationwide in 2014," Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel said in the statement.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Internal Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar agreed to advance construction of 1,500 housing units in northeast Jerusalem.
The decision coincided with the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners on Tuesday night, amid the renewal of the peace talks with the Palestinians. The move drew criticism from the right-wing members of the prime minister's coalition.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians resumed in late July, after a three-year halt in negotiations as a result of Israel's expansion of its settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
The talks are held under secrecy, yet there are reports of difficulties in making progress for various reasons, one of them being Israel's announcement of its intention to build more than 1, 700 new housing units in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.