Summary Israel unveiled plans Friday to build more than 1,800 new settler homes.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel unveiled plans Friday to build more than 1,800 new settler homes, a move the Palestinians said was a signal to the US to abandon efforts for Middle East peace.
The announcement comes a week after US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region in his latest attempt to push Israeli and Palestinian leaders towards an elusive peace deal.
But the US chief diplomat s 10th trip was clouded by bitter recriminations from leaders of both sides, who accused each other of lacking commitment to building peace after decades of conflict.
The housing ministry announced the plans for 1,076 units in annexed east Jerusalem and 801 in the occupied West Bank, said the Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now.
It comes after Israel freed a third batch of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners from its jails on December 31, as a goodwill gesture under the ongoing talks.
"The housing ministry announced the plans this morning," Peace Now spokesman Lior Amihai told AFP.
"Many of the units will be built in existing settlements such as Efrat and Ariel in the West Bank, and Ramat Shlomo, Ramot and Pisgat Zeev in east Jerusalem."
The ministry could not be immediately reached for confirmation.
Palestinians said the move proved Israel wanted Kerry to stay away, and was another attempt by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "destroy" the peace process.
"The new settlement construction plan is a message from Netanyahu to Kerry not to come back to the region to continue his efforts in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks," senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
"Every time Kerry has stepped up his efforts, returning to the region (for more talks), Netanyahu has stepped up his efforts to destroy the peace process," Erakat said.
"Netanyahu is determined to destroy the two-state solution."
