Israel has freed 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners in line with the US-backed peace process but has ramped up settlement in annexed east Jerusalem at the same time.
Plans to build another 1500 settler homes in the city's Arab eastern sector came to light almost immediately after Israel began freeing 21 prisoners to the West Bank and another five to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip early on Wednesday.
The sequence of events was almost a mirror image of an earlier prisoner release on August 13, when a first tranche of 26 prisoners were freed and Israel announced construction of more than 2000 new settler homes, most of them in east Jerusalem.
"The prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and the interior minister (Gideon Saar) agreed on four building plans in Jerusalem," a senior Israeli source told AFP, confirming details initially reported on military radio.
The announcement was timed to trump headlines focusing on the celebrations in the West Bank and Gaza after the 21 prisoners walked free into their respective home territories shortly after 1:00 am (1000 AEDT).
In the West Bank, thousands of people turned out to welcome home the 21 prisoners at a formal ceremony at Mahmud Abbas's presidential compound in Ramallah, cheering and waving flags, many holding mobile phones aloft to capture the moment.
The prisoners had left Ofer prison in two minibuses with blacked-out windows and were driven to Beitunia crossing where fireworks split the night sky as they tasted freedom for the first time in 20 years or more.
After a tearful reunion with family members, many of the now-freed inmates were carried through the crowds on people's shoulders, their hands held aloft in victory.
"There will be no (peace) agreement if so much as one Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars," Abbas told the excited crowd, referring to the 5000 or so inmates still being held by Israel.
Israel's move to ramp up settlement in tandem with the prisoner release was mooted last week by a senior Israeli official who said the expected announcement on new construction had been coordinated in advance with the Palestinians and the Americans.
But Abbas, speaking shortly before the Israeli announcement, flatly denied it.
"There are some living among us who say that we have a deal (to release prisoners) in exchange for settlement building, and I say to them, be silent," said the Palestinian president.
In Gaza, the five detainees were met by hundreds of relatives and well-wishers as they emerged through the Erez crossing and entered the strip, sparking energetic celebrations late into the night.
All 26 prisoners were convicted for killing Israelis, with most of the attacks occurring before the 1993 Oslo accords, which granted the Palestinians limited self-rule but failed to usher in an independent state.
