US-sponsored peace talks with Israel have reached an impasse because of Jewish settlement activity, a Palestinian spokesman says, as plans for more than 2000 West Bank units were moved forward.
"Israel's settlement activity caused the negotiations to fail and led them to an impasse," Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, said on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, a spokesman for Israel's defence ministry said a committee has progressed with plans to build 2269 new West Bank homes, at a meeting last month.
The peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are teetering on the brink of collapse ahead of an April 29 deadline for a deal.
Washington is fighting an uphill battle to get the two sides to agree to a framework proposal to extend the negotiations to the year's end.
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So far, the Palestinians have flatly refused to consider any extension, partly over Israel's persistent settlement construction which has shown no let-up since talks resumed last July.
