Israel has given approval for the building of more than 1,000 new homes in Jewish settlements, and is to publish a call for tenders from contractors, the Housing Ministry said Sunday.
The announcement came ahead of the planned resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Jerusalem on Wednesday, dpa reported.
The ministry said 1,187 apartments had received approval.
More than half are to be built in East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed shortly after the 1967 war, a move not recognized by most of the international community.
Other apartments are to be built at the West Bank settlements of Maaleh Adumim, Efrat and Ariel.
A first round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians took place in Washington at the end of July, after a break of nearly three years.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had long insisted that there would be no talks without a freeze on Israeli settlements.
But an agreement was reached to allow the talks to take place after Israel said it was releasing more than 100 long-serving Palestinian prisoners. The first 26 are to be set free on Tuesday.