JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel is moving ahead with plans to build 486 apartments in east Jerusalem, despite U.S. efforts to halt Israeli construction there and in the West Bank, the Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday.

The government had approved the project before, but an earlier request for bids to build the project was canceled over pricing disputes with contractors, the newspaper said.

The construction is planned for the outer edge of Jerualem’s northeastern boundary and would narrow the distance between the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Zeev and nearby Palestinian communities, Haaretz reported.

The reactivation of the bidding process comes days after the U.S. rebuked Israel for authorizing the building of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.