Israel's government started plans to construct 2610 settlement units in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos,Peace Now movement said.
The plan for building new housing units was approved by the planning committee already in December 2012, but the required publication of the validation was put on hold. The publication is the last step before tenders can be issued and construction can start.
Peace Now published the news on its website hours before the meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Barack Obama in Washington.
Peace Now criticized the committee’s decision, calling it "destructive" and asserting that the advancement of the project would harm efforts to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
The Givat Hamatos area, which lies near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem on the West Bank, is part of the east Jerusalem territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed. The step has been condemned repeatedly by the United Nations as a violation of international law.