Illegal Israeli settlement attempts expansion, such activity could 'blow up' peace talks

Ma'an -- Residents of an illegal West Bank settlement attempted on Monday to install additional housing units to its plot, Israel's Civil Administration confirmed.

A spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration said three trucks carrying three mobile homes were seen trying to enter the Elon Moreh settlement, amid an government-issued ban on settlement construction set to expire on 26 September. Inspectors sequestered the trucks, which were held by the Civil Administration, he said Tuesday.

Palestinian officials reported earlier that at least five new homes were being constructed in Elon Moreh, in the northern Nablus district, near the Palestinian villages of Azmut and Deir Al-Hatab.

Ghassan Doughlas, who heads the file on northern settlement activity, said settlers were also bulldozing land to make way for electricity poles and lights near the Shifat Gilad outpost, and warned that further settlement activity could "blow up" direct peace talks set to begin on Thursday.

Several Israeli settlement councils have sought to defy Israel's 10-month settlement moratorium on West Bank construction, vowing to continue building once the freeze expires on 26 September.

The PLO and PA have urged Israel to extend the freeze and include East Jerusalem in its mandate, warning that continued settlement building could derail talks.

On Monday, President Mahmoud Abbas said US and international officials have been notified that "Israel will bear sole and full responsibility for the collapse of negotiations should settlement building continue," ahead of talks set to begin in Washington on 2 September.