JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel has approved more than 1,300 new housing units in occupied east Jerusalem, settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Monday, in what a spokeswoman described as a big provocation. There are three new plans which have been published for public review, Hagit Ofran told AFP, saying that most of the new building will be in the sprawling settlement neighbourhood of Har Homa, which is home to more than 7,000 people. She said the plans include 983 new housing units in one area of Har Homa, with another 42 to be built elsewhere in the neighbourhood which lies close to Bethlehem. The plans also detail another 320 units to be built in the northern Ramot neighbourhood, she said. This is a new stage in Har Homa which really extends it, Ofran said. It is a big provocation. Publication of the plans comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States for talks focused on ways to revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians which have hit a deadlock over settlement building. Although the plans must now be put to a 60-day public appeals process, Ofran said they were a very long way from being implemented. Technically, it would be very easy to stop these plans, but what they are doing is promoting them, she said, saying it was highly unlikely Netanyahu was unaware the plans were to be made public during his US visit. The interior ministry did not immediately respond to an AFP request to confirm publication of the plans. Israels hardline Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned on Monday that negotiating the borders of a Palestinian state without security arrangements for Israel would be a historic mistake. It would be a dramatic mistake, a historic mistake and strategic mistake to talk about borders before we complete the security discussions, Lieberman told Israels army radio. Meanwhile, Germanys top diplomat urged Israel on Monday to allow exports from the impoverished Palestinian territory saying Israels blockade of the Gaza Strip only served to strengthen extremists. It is not acceptable to blockade 1.5 million people in Gaza, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters on a brief visit to the Hamas-run coastal strip. The blockade strengthens the radicals and weakens the moderates, and the opposite is what we should be doing, he said of the measure, which has been eased by Israel over the summer months but still remains in place. It is important that imports and exports are allowed through again, he said, stressing that this was also the position of the European Union. Westerwelles comments came during a visit to the Sheikh Ajleen sewage treatment plant, just south of Gaza City, which is being redeveloped with a 20-million-euro (28-million-dollar) grant from German development bank KfW. Gaza must not and will not be forgotten by us, he said, pledging Berlin would continue to help the territory, whose core infrastructure was devastated during a deadly 22-day Israeli offensive in December 2008-January 2009. Infrastructure is crucial for development. Water, sewage treatment, education and training are the key components of our aid, Westerwelle said.