JERUSALEM, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli housing and construction ministry announced Monday the marketing of 5,000 new housing units nationwide, nearly 700 of which are located in a controversial area beyond the 1967 borders, local news outlets reported.
The announcement comes just several days after the European Union (EU) denounced Israel for building in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.
According to the announcement, 607 housing units will be marketed in Pisgat Ze'ev, a northeastern Jerusalem neighborhood across the 1967 line, and 92 units will be marketed in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem.
"We aim to keep up with the government's objective of increasing the supply of lots for housing. We are also marketing in Jerusalem, which is the capital of Israel. There is a population growth and high demand and we cannot stop the construction there," Israeli Housing Minister Ariel Atias said.
Israel considers the whole city of Jerusalem as its "eternal capital", while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967, as the capital of their future state.
The Israeli ministry said the designated units are set in "high- demand" areas. Lots for 806 housing units will be marketed in central units, 1,170 in Jerusalem, 1,174 in the north and 387 units in Haifa.
The ministry added that the lands would be marketed at minimum rates, about 25 to 35 percent of its evaluation price, in order to decrease the lands' prices.
Last week, the EU slammed the Israeli government for green- lighting a plan to build 797 housing units in Gilo, located in southeast Jerusalem on a land seized in the 1967 war.
"Settlements are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement released Friday.
The statement also noted that the EU "has repeatedly urged the government of Israel to immediately end all settlement activities in the West Bank, including in east Jerusalem, in line with its obligations under the road map."
Netanyahu replied to Ashton's message by telling his cabinet on Sunday that Israel will not place any limitation on construction in its "capital."
"In the same way building goes on in London, Paris, Washington or Moscow, Israel is building Jerusalem," Netanyahu said.
During a visit to Jerusalem earlier Monday, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter slammed Netanyahu and his government for " abandoning" the two-state solution and leading to a "catastrophic" one-state outcome.
Peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians came to a halt in 2010 over growing controversy about the expansion of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
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