(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV - Head Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has severely criticised Israel's decision to build 900 housing units in the Jewish district of Gilo, located in the Jerusalem municipality not under Israeli sovereignty until the Six Days War in 1967. ''No one recognises Israel's right to extend construction in East Jerusalem,'' Erekat said on Israeli military radio. ''The land on which those neighbourhoods were built are part of my future state. This must stop: Israel must choose peace or settlements. We, as can only be expected, hope it chooses the first option.'' In response to a question on the political future of Mahmoud Abbas - who for now does not intend to run for re-election as president of the Palestinian Authority - Erekat said that in reality the leader ''is not clinging to the post''. Erekat also reiterated that Palestinian Authority leaders are not expecting any positive diplomatic development in the near future. ''We do not even have a tunnel at the end of which we can see the light,'' he said. A reply to Erekat's criticism was made by Israeli Building Minister Ariel Atias (from the Shas party), who said that as far as the construction of 900 housing units in Gilo (East Jerusalem) was concerned, ''only long-term plans have been approved. The necessary maps have not yet been prepared, no authorisation has yet been received from the city council and no calls for tender have yet been made. Years could go by before any buildings come up in that zone.'' In reference to the all-Jewish settlements in the West bank, Atias said that Benyamin Netanyahu's government had brought in a freeze on new building projects. ''Since his election (in April 2009, Ed.), Netanyahu has not authorised any call for tenders in those areas,'' said Atias. ''His predecessor, Ehud Olmert, instead built 9,700 housing units in three years. Nonetheless, Mahmoud Abbas met with Olmert every week in Jerusalem.'' In an interview on Israeli military radio, Atias revealed that in the West Bank the Netanyahu government had removed 130 military checkpoints to facilitate the movement of Palestinians. ''We have shown with the facts that we are interested in peace,'' he said.(ANSAmed).