A senior Palestinian official on Sunday condemned Israeli plans to build new housing units in a settlement near east Jerusalem.

"The ongoing Israeli settlement activities confirm our credible and true attitude to sue Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC)," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua.

Earlier, Israel approved the construction of 64 housing units in the Israeli settlement of Ramot in the northwest of the city.

Erekat added that the expansion of settlement building will undermine peace efforts and ruin the principle of the two-state solution."

On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formed a committee to prepare for lawsuits to be filed with the ICC in April.

In late December, Abbas signed on to join 20 international agencies and treaties, including Rome Statute and the ICC, after the UN Security Council failed to approve a resolution that calls for ending the Israeli occupation.

"We are now preparing two files to submit to the ICC; the first is settlement expansion and the second is related to committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip last summer," said Erekat. Endit

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