21 October 2010 Last updated at 23:58 ET

Settlers start 600 new homes after ban ends - report

Construction in West Bank settlements has resumed since the freeze expired on 26 September

Jewish settlers have started building more than 600 homes in the West Bank since a building freeze expired last month, an Israeli pressure group says.

The pace of building was four times faster than before the restrictions were put in place, Peace Now said.

Palestinian negotiators have threatened to walk out of the recently resumed direct peace talks with Israel unless the construction freeze is reinstated.

A UN envoy criticised Israel over the report, describing it as "alarming".

Robert Serry, the UN Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said building on occupied land was illegal under international law and would "only further undermine trust" in the peace process.

'Natural pace'

A spokesman for Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, told the BBC that more details on the new homes being built by settlers would be released in a report on Monday,

Another official from the group, Hagit Ofran, added: "I estimate that work has started at about 600 housing units [since the end of the construction freeze], and I'm looking to complete the survey in order to know the exact number, and it is [at] different stages of construction. In some places, it is only levelling the ground that has started and in others, it's the very foundation that is now being dug."

A separate count by the Associated Press estimated that ground had been broken on at least 544 new West Bank homes since 26 September, when Israel lifted its 10-month freeze on most new settlement building in the West Bank.

Analysis

Jon Donnison BBC News, Gaza

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Today's headlines are not good for the Palestinian president's credibility. For weeks, Mahmoud Abbas has been saying he would walk away from US-led peace talks if the building of Jewish homes on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank did not stop. Peace Now's findings show that has not happened.

Yet, in principle at least, President Abbas is just about still at the table. Under pressure from US President Barack Obama, the Palestinians' official position is that they are giving the United States three more weeks to try to persuade Israel to renew its freeze on settlement building.

In practical terms though, all direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership have already stopped. A member of the Palestinian negotiation team told the BBC that news of more than 600 new Jewish houses was a "slap in the face" to the international community and proof that Israel did not want peace.

Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the figure was "alarming and is another indicator that Israel is not serious about the peace process, which is supposed to be about ending the occupation".

But Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel wanted to "proceed to move forward in the peace process and all the difficult issues, all the core issues of the conflict are on the table, including the sensitive issue of settlements.

"In the interim, the limited construction under way will in no way impact upon the final contours of a peace agreement. Ultimately, it's not about settlements, it's about reaching a historic peace settlement," he added.

An organisation representing Jewish settlers told the BBC they were not counting houses and the settlements needed to grow at a "natural pace".

US pressure

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been under pressure from the US government to extend the slowdown.

Earlier this month, Mr Netanyahu offered to renew the freeze if the Palestinians recognised Israel as a Jewish state, but the Palestinian leadership dismissed the proposal as unfair and unnecessary.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967, settling close to 500,000 Jews in more than 100 settlements. They are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

The Palestinians - backed by the Arab League - have pledged not to return to direct talks without a full settlement construction freeze, but have given US negotiators until early November to try to break the impasse.

The talks, which resumed in Washington in September after a break of almost 20 months, are facing imminent collapse in the bitter row over settlement building.