The Israeli daily Haaretz said that bulldozers have been working furiously on the construction of the new housing units in the settlements of Talmon, Kedumim, Ariel, Karmei Tzur, Adam, Kiryat Arba, Nariya, Matityahu, Nili, Oranit, Sha'arei Tikvah, Revava, Yakir, Elazar, Kochav Hashachar, Barkan, Kfar Adumim, Tekoa and Dolev.
The development came 10 days after the construction freeze in West Bank settlements expired and two days before the Arab League Follow-up Committee will convene in Libya to discuss the latest developments of peace talks.
The Palestinian leadership on Saturday decided not to continue direct peace talks with Israel unless the latter freezes building works in Jewish settlements that dot the west Bank and Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared recently that he will make his final decision on the fate of direct negotiations with Israel after the Follow-up Committee 's meeting in Libya.
The US administration convinced the two sides to resume negotiations last month and ended nearly two years of halt, but has failed to reach a compromise allowing the Palestinians to continue the talks after Israel had let a partial freeze on construction to expire on Sept. 26.
On Tuesday, Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdaineh said that the Palestinian leadership is still waiting for the US peace mediators to convey Israel's official position on settlement construction freezing.
According to Abu Rdaineh, “There can be no peace talks as long as settlement construction is still going on.”
If Israel imposes full settlement freeze, peace negotiations, in return, will be enduring, thorough and serious, he added. However, Abu Rdaineh said there are no positive signs about resuming the stalled direct peace talks which kicked off last month under U.S. sponsorship.
Israel's security Cabinet met on Wednesday but, despite requests by several ministers, the renewal of the freeze on Jewish settlement building was not discussed, an observer at the session said.
Ministers had asked that the 15-member policy-making body debate whether to accede to international demands for the renewal of a 10-month moratorium, which expired last week.
Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, a non-voting observer at Wednesday's meeting, told Israeli public radio the issue was not put on the agenda.
A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the meeting dealt with strengthening Israel's civil defense measures, in particular “to enable apartment owners to reinforce their buildings against the threat of missile attacks or earthquakes.”
Ministers in Netanyahu's seven-member inner circle had met on Tuesday but again, the issue of the freeze was not discussed, despite Palestinian threats to bolt peace talks if it is not reimposed. Netanyahu had been expected to use both forums to try to achieve some kind of compromise over the settlements ahead of the Arab League meeting on Friday.
Simhon, of the dovish Labour party, said he feared the window of opportunity for forging an agreement with the Palestinians was about to slam shut.
“I'm definitely concerned,” he told the radio. “I think we find ourselves at a moment of truth at which the leadership of the state of Israel must take significant and difficult political decisions.”
— With input from agencies
