Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to continue building in east Jerusalem, over the objection of Palestinians who claim the territory as capital of their hoped-for state.

Netanyahu spoke Sunday after the European Union’s foreign policy chief criticized plans to build 800 new apartments and a military college on contested land.

He told his Cabinet on Sunday, “We are not imposing any restrictions on construction in Jerusalem. It is our capital.”

The fate of Jerusalem lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians refuse to negotiate while Israel continues to build settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

Netanyahu has rejected the notion of partitioning the city.

(AP)