Tel Aviv, December 23, SPA -- Israel has plans to build an additional 740 apartments in disputed east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2008, a Cabinet minister said Sunday, enragingPalestinians who say such construction undermines nascentpeace talks. The Construction Ministry's proposed budget for 2008includes 500 apartments for the Har Homa neighborhood ineast Jerusalem. Plans to build more than 300 apartments inthat same neighborhood, announced earlier this month, upsetthe first round of negotiations Israel and the Palestiniansconducted in seven years, the Associated Press reported. An additional 240 apartments are planned for constructionin Maaleh Adumim just outside Jerusalem, one of Israel'sbiggest West Bank settlements, according to the ministry'sbudget. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/511643