Palestinians denounced a new Israeli settlement plan, which includes 300,000 new housing units in occupied east Jerusalem.

"It is part of the colonialist project taking place in Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, Hebron and elsewhere," according to a statement released by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, as reported by Anadolu Agency (AA).

Israeli Minister of Housing and Construction Yoav Galant launched a campaign to promote the construction of 300,000 settlement units in east Jerusalem, according to Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 10 said the planned construction was part of the so-called Israeli "Greater Jerusalem" bill, which aims at annexing settlements built on lands sought by Palestinians for their future state. According to the channel, most of the planned homes will be built in areas beyond the Green Line, which refers to the territories occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War.

The move comes less than three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump officially recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital despite world opposition.

Recently, Israel prepared to triple the Jewish neighborhood of Nof Zion in the heart of Arab east Jerusalem through a local planning committee in September. The expansion of Nof Zion would be considered the largest Jewish neighborhood located in an Arab neighborhood in the city.

In June, Israel announced its plans to build nearly 1,800 settlement units in occupied east Jerusalem. It will be the largest new Jewish settlement built in east Jerusalem in over a decade. The new plan includes the eviction of five Palestinian families to make room for the two new buildings in the heart of the occupied east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, the Middle East Monitor reported. The Israeli nongovernmental organization Peace Now condemned the latest Israeli government move, accusing it of destroying the progress being made in the two-state solution.

In July, Israel began work on the first new settlement in the West Bank in 25 years to house right-wing extremist settlers expelled from the illegal outpost of Amona in February.

Israel advanced plans for a further 1,500 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the second such announcement in a week. The announcement came after the United Nations' latest call on Israel to pull out of the territories captured in the 1967 war.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, which are seen as a major obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. They live alongside some 3 million Palestinians.

The international community regards all Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories to be illegal and a major obstacle to Middle Eastern peace. The area, captured by Israel in 1967, is not sovereign Israeli territory, and Palestinians there are not Israeli citizens and do not have the right to vote. Palestinians accuse Israel of waging an aggressive campaign to Judaize the historic city with the aim of effacing its Arab and Islamic identity and driving out its Palestinian inhabitants.