The municipality said in a statement Sunday it plans to grant approval this week to 176 housing units in the Nof Zion neighbourhood which abuts the Arab Jabel Mukaber area in the eastern sector of Jerusalem.
The city says the new homes will more than double the size of the current settlement, making it the largest Jewish settlement in the heart of an Arab area of east Jerusalem.
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. It considers the city its eternal, undivided capital.