The Jerusalem municipality has approved the construction of 78 new homes for Jews in Jerusalem, AFP reports Wednesday.
Municipal spokeswoman Brachie Sprung said 50 homes will be built in Har Homa and 28 in Ramot.
This is the latest announcement of building tenders approval announcements.
Over the past several weeks, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave instructions for the building of about 660 homes in Ramat Shlomo and about 400 more in Har Homa as well as approving 2,610 building tenders from 2012 to be approved for full construction.
The Jerusalem municipality approved 200 additional homes last week.
The announcement is sure to spark strong reactions from leftist groups (i.e.Peace Now), the US, and the European Union - all of which have condemned and threatened Israel repeatedly over the past several weeks for building homes for Jewish residents in the capital of the Jewish state.
In response, Jerusalem has stepped up its own defense of Jewish building in the capital, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman stressing Sunday that Israel 'will never accept' the labels the international community has ascribed to the building project.
"One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity," Liberman said Sunday. "We won't accept any limitation on building in Jewish areas of (east) Jerusalem."
"We do not accept any restrictions on construction in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem and there will be no compromise about it," he continued. "Anyone who thinks that the Israeli government is about to give in and limit construction in Jerusalem is wrong, we will defend our independence and sovereignty."