JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel approved a plan to build more than 800 housing units in the West Bank.

Israel’s Defense Ministry told The Associated Press Monday that it had approved planning for the housing in five settlements earlier this month.

The plans for Givat Ze’ev, Nofei Prat, Shiloh, Givat Salit and Nokdim had been announced last month in the aftermath of Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month ordered the plans for 20,000 West Bank housing units canceled after pressure from the United States.

Announcements of new construction projects in the West Bank have spurred problems in the current U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.