The Obama administration on Friday said it regrets the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional Jewish settlement construction, adding that continued settlement activity is "inconsistent" with Israel's commitment under the Roadmap peace initiative, Xinhua reported.
"The United State does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop. We are working to create a climate in which negotiations can take place, and such actions make it harder to create such a climate," said the White House in a statement.
The U.S. commitment to Israel's security "is and will remain unshakable," said the statement, but stressing that Israel's security should be achieved through "comprehensive peace in the region, including a two-state solution with a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to approve next week plans for hundreds of new housing units in the West Bank before considering a moratorium "for a few months" on further construction, the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post cited a senior source as saying on Friday.
The moratorium reportedly applies to East Jerusalem, but Israel would refrain from taking "provocative action" in the framework of the agreement being negotiated with the Obama administration. U.S. President Barack Obama has been pressing Israel to freeze all settlement activities in the Palestinian occupied territories and to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.
Some 450,000 Israelis live in more than 100 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slammed Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction as "unacceptable," reiterating that he would not meet with Netanyahu until settlement construction is totally halted.
"What the Israeli government said is not useful," said Abbas after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on Friday. "It is unacceptable for us. We want a freeze on all settlement construction."
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