Israel Draws International Rebuke Over Settlements

By KARIN LAUB
Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- The European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League have rebuked Israel after its refusal to halt settlement construction forced Washington to drop efforts to relaunch Mideast peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday stuck to his position that he won't negotiate without a freeze of Jewish settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem - lands captured by Israel and sought by the Palestinians for their state. He spoke after meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.

"Without halt of settlements, there will be no talks," Abbas said.

With the path to direct talks effectively blocked, it is not clear what the Obama administration will do next.

Israeli and Palestinian envoys were summoned to Washington for separate meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. She saw Israeli envoy Yitzhak Molcho on Thursday, to be followed by talks with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Friday. Molcho also met Obama envoy George Mitchell for three hours, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

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They'll be able to find a new home in Israel proper.