Ramallah, Aug 15 (IANS): A senior Palestinian official has condemned Israel's claim that it allowed the construction of houses in Area C in the West Bank as "deceptive and misleading".

Ahmed Majdalani, member of the executive committee of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in a statement that "the Israeli government is misleading the public opinion of the world", Xinhua news agency reported.

"Area C is an occupied territory, where Israel carried out mass demolitions of Palestinian homes, stole Palestinian lands," Majdalani said, adding that it violates international laws.

"The Palestinian leadership rejects dividing the West Bank into three, as the West Bank is the territory of the independent state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital," he said.

The Peace Accords, signed between Israel and the PLO in 1993, has divided the West Bank into three areas: Area A under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, Area B under joint Israeli-Palestinian control and Area C under full Israeli control.

Israel captured territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and has controlled them ever since.

Israel bans the entry of Palestinians unless they have special permits issued by the military.

Last week, the Israeli media reported that Israel will allow the Palestinian Authority to build 1,000 housing units in Area C.

The report said that it is the first time in so many years that Israel allows the Palestinians to build in an area under its full control in the West Bank.