Israel revives settlement plans : NGO

Israel yesterday revived plans to build 500 new homes for Jewish settlers in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, an ominous sign for Palestinians wary of a Donald Trump presidency, an NGO said.

"The political significance of this action is that it is the first plan to be promoted since the US elections," Betty Herschman from the Ir Amim NGO said.

The plan for 500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood in east Jerusalem of around 20,000, had been on hold since 2014, Ir Amim said.

The announcement is likely to be interpreted by some as a first step in Israel expanding its settlements in the wake of Trump's upset election victory. Israeli right-wingers hailed his triumph as ushering in an administration far less critical of settlement expansion than that of outgoing President Barack Obama's.