Amnesty International on Friday urged the Israeli authorities to abandon plans to construct 238 new housing units in Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
"The Israeli authorities must immediately halt expansion of settlements in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied West Bank," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
"Not only does the building contravene international law, it also compounds the litany of abuses of the human rights of Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including their rights to adequate housing and water."
Although the areas of Pisgat Ze'ev and Ramot were not covered by the recent freeze on settlement construction, which excluded East Jerusalem, all settlement building on occupied land is illegal under international law.
Israel unilaterally annexed 70.5km² of occupied land in East Jerusalem and its environs following the 1967 war.
"Discrimination on grounds of nationality and religion is the dominant feature of Israel's settlement policy," said Philip Luther.
"The policy violates the rights both of Palestinians in East Jerusalem living under civil law and of those in the rest of the West Bank where they are subject to Israeli military law."
Israel's land grab and dissection of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have had a devastating impact on the lives of Palestinians. In East Jerusalem, 35 per cent of the land has been expropriated for settlements in which 195,000 Israelis live.
