Israel Announces More than 1,800 New Settler Homes

Israel unveiled plans Friday to build more than 1,800 new settler homes, a move the Palestinians said was a signal to the U.S. to abandon efforts for Middle East peace.

The announcement comes a week after U.S. 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 U.S. 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."

Peace Now said Israel was "fooling" Kerry and the Palestinians, and that the settlement plans showed it was not serious about reaching a peace agreement.

"These actions are an indication that this government is not serious about the process, in fact they are fooling the Israeli public, the Palestinian leadership, the U.S. secretary of state and the international community," it said in a statement.

Israel freed the third of four batches of long-serving Palestinian prisoners on December 31, ahead of Kerry's visit.

The two previous prisoner releases coincided directly with announcements for thousands of new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, in efforts by Netanyahu to appease the Israeli public and hardline cabinet members who oppose peace talks or the creation of a Palestinian state outright.

But Netanyahu delayed the latest settlement announcement, media reports said, so as not to anger U.S. officials.

Kerry is due back in the region next week, according to Israeli media, on what would be his 11th visit since kick-starting negotiations in July after a three-year hiatus.

His latest trip failed to bring about agreement on a framework for final status talks.

Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday the talks could be extended beyond their April deadline, insisting that current negotiations were aimed solely at providing a framework for final talks.

But Palestinian leaders have threatened to sue Israel through international courts over its settlement expansion once the nine-month period for negotiations ends.

The settlement plans have provoked angry reaction from the international community and from Palestinian negotiators.

The international community considers the colonization of occupied land to be illegal, and the Palestinians have long viewed settlement construction as a key obstacle to reaching a peace agreement.

Some 350,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank, in addition to another 200,000 Israelis settled in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem.