Jerusalem - Israel announced plans on Thursday to build 22 more homes in its largest West Bank settlement, a week after US President George Bush urged the Jewish state to stop expanding Jewish enclaves on occupied land.
The Israel Lands Administration, a government agency, published a tender inviting bids for the purchase of 22 plots for the construction of single-family homes in the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, near Jerusalem.
Last week Bush repeated a call on Israel to halt expansion of settlements in keeping with a US-backed "road map" peace plan envisaging a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
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Sharon intends to dismantle Jewish enclaves in Gaza in August, but has made it clear that he intends to hold onto large swathes of the West Bank, including the three large settlement blocs of Maale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel.
Palestinians say Sharon is undermining the peace process He has also said Israel has no plans for any imminent territorial moves after its planned "disengagement" from Gaza and the northern fringe of the West Bank starting in August.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called on Washington and the international community to intervene to stop the construction of the new housing units.
"We think that Israel's continuation of settlement policies undermines the efforts being exerted to revise the peace process," Erekat said.
Palestinians say settlement growth in the West Bank aims to deny them a viable state called for by the road map.
The Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now criticised the new building plan in Maale Adumim, a sprawling suburban settlement of 30 000 people.
"The Israeli government continues not to fulfil its obligations under the road map, namely to completely freeze settlement activity," a Peace Now spokesperson said.
"Sharon is asking the Palestinians to carry out their part of the road map," he said, referring to a crackdown on armed militant groups. "If we want to see progress, both sides should (carry out their commitments)."
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