Occupied Jerusalem: Israel is to build some 2,000 new colonist homes in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in response to a Unesco decision to admit Palestine as a full member, a senior official said Tuesday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Forum of Eight senior ministers a day after the Palestinians successfully joined the UN cultural organisation, the source told AFP.
"These measures were agreed by the Forum of Eight ... as punishment after the vote at Unesco," said the source told AFP.
"We will build 2,000 housing units, including 1,650 homes in [occupied] east Jerusalem and the rest in the [colonies] of Maaleh Adumim and Efrat," he said, referring to a sprawling colony east of Occupied Jerusalem and another between Bethlehem and the southern city of Hebron.
"It was also decided to temporarily freeze the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, until a final decision is taken," he added, referring to the monthly transfer by Israel of tax monies owed to the Palestinian leadership.
