Israeli committee OKs 3,500 settlement homes in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli committee has approved plans for building more than 3,500 settler housing units in east Jerusalem, nearly half in a particularly controversial area. That’s according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement monitoring group. Peace Now says the construction would largely cut off the city from the southern West Bank. That would further complicate any efforts to create a Palestinian state in territories Israel seized in the 1967 war. The U.S. has repeatedly urged Israel to refrain from settlement construction. A municipal committee approved the projects Wednesday, initiating an approval process that could drag on for years. Peace Now says each step makes it more likely the homes will be built.