Jerusalem, Nov 18 (DPA) Plans for construction of 900 new Israeli residences in the West Bank are set to further heighten tensions between the US and Israel on the issue of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, media reports said Tuesday.
According to the reports, the city management of Jerusalem has approved the plans to expand the Israeli settlement of Gilo.

Israel captured and later annexed the area after the 1967 Middle East war, but the international community has not recognise the annexation.

The US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, has expressed US reservations to the plan, reported Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot Tuesday, fearing the building could reduce the likelihood of Palestinian participation in peace talks.

Yitzhak Molkho, spokesman for rightwing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however claimed that Gilo was an integral part of Jerusalem, thus Israeli territory, and therefore required no special building permission.