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Group: Israel upped settlement work during talks

By Josef Federman
Published April 29, 2014 1:29pm ET
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Group: Israel upped settlement work during talks
FILE - In this March 14, 2011 file photo, a general view of a construction site in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit. An Israeli watchdog group says Israel increased settlement work four-fold during the latest round of peace talks, pushing forward with construction of nearly 14,000 new homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Peace Now issued its statistics on Tuesday, April 29, 2014, as a nine-month negotiating period came to a close. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had envisioned a final peace agreement when he brought the sides together last July. But negotiations made no progress and were characterized by a lack of trust, in large part because of continued Israeli settlement construction in captured territories claimed by the Palestinians. According to Peace Now, Israel promoted plans or issued tenders for construction of 13,851 homes during the talks. It said the level of construction quadrupled compared to recent years. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty, File) | Oded Balilty

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel increased settlement work four-fold during the latest round of peace talks, pushing forward with construction of nearly 14,000 new homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, a watchdog group said Tuesday.

Peace Now issued its statistics as a nine-month negotiating period between Israel and the Palestinians came to a close. The group cited Israel’s construction surge as a key reason for failure.

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Israel Middle East Palestinians World