Israel has approved 24 new settlement units to be constructed in an Arab neighborhood in the occupied East Jerusalem, Press TV reported.
"The building and planning committee has authorized the construction of 24 homes in four buildings," Hagit Ofran from settlement watchdog Peace Now told AFP on Tuesday.
She added that the new settler units will be built in As Suwwana, located just east of al-Quds' old city, near the Mount of Olives.
The new construction order comes as Israeli authorities destroyed two more Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
The renewed direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel broke off after Tel Aviv refused to extend a partial 10-month settlement freeze that ended in late September.
Last week, the United States stopped convincing Israel to freeze its settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to meet the international community's demand for extending the freeze in the occupied West Bank.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has declared in a statement that Israel is obliged to freeze its settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The European Union has also expressed regret about Israel's refusal to extend the partial freeze, calling the Israeli settlement expansion illegal and an obstacle to peace.