JERUSALEM — In a new affront to the Palestinians on the eve of resumed peace talks, the Israeli Interior Ministry’s final approval of nearly 900 new apartments in a contested part of Jerusalem has been officially published, Israeli news media reported Tuesday. It was Israel’s second move since Sunday to advance housing construction in areas sought by the Palestinians for a future state.

The new apartments, in an area known as Gilo, were approved by an Interior Ministry panel in December and later endorsed with some revisions by the full ministry. Official approval was published on Monday, as required under Israeli law. That news came as the Palestinians continued to react to the announcement on Sunday by the Israeli government of new construction tenders for other parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

An Interior Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak about the issue, characterized the publication of the ministry’s final approval of the Gilo units “just a procedure.” In addition, the Housing Ministry and the Israel Lands Administration must still evaluate construction tenders for the Gilo housing, and groundbreaking could be months or more into the future.

But the timing of the news inflamed Palestinian passions as peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday in Jerusalem.