JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- PLO official in charge of Jerusalem affairs Ahmad Qurai said Sunday that Israel's decision to build up a zone linking East Jerusalem to West Bank settlements was "in defiance of world opinion."

Israeli government officials unveiled on Friday plans to build 3,000 new settlement units and expedite building in the so-called E-1 area of the occupied West Bank, a day after Palestine was admitted to the UN as a non-member state.

Qurai told official PA channel Palestine TV that the announcement was in "flagrant defiance" of the 138 UN member states who voted for the resolution.

He said the decision would effectively close of East Jerusalem, which Palestinians insist is the capital of their future independent state.

It undermines the two-state solution, and proves "Israel is a racist entity that does not want peace," Qurai said.

The PLO official noted that Israel had long come under international pressure not to implement its E-1 plan, and called for intervention by the UN Security Council.