Israeli authorities on Wednesday approved building permits for 240 new homes in settlement neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem, Deputy Mayor Meir Turjeman told AFP.

A city planning committee approved 90 units in Gilo and another 150 in Ramat Shlomo, Turjeman said, the latest in a series of moves to enhance Israel's presence in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city.

Turjeman noted the committee also approved 44 units for Palestinians in their neighbourhood of Beit Hanina.

Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967.

It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Palestinians want the eastern sector as the capital of their future state.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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