Jewish Settlements Sore Spot in Talks

BEITAR ILLIT, West Bank (AP) - On what was a bare West Bank hilltop a dozen years ago, construction workers hammer out the walls of yet more new houses in this now massive Jewish settlement.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), who meets Tuesday with President Bush (news - web sites) to discuss efforts to restart peace talks, says he will not uproot any of the settlements built on land the Palestinians claim for their state. Under his government, 34 new hilltop outposts have sprung up.

Israel says they are merely extensions of existing settlements, but Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the new construction sends a clear message that Sharon is more interested in extending Israel's borders than in trying to negotiate peace.

"Sharon is destroying every possibility for peace between our two peoples," Abed Rabbo said.

Bush intends to urge Sharon to curb the settlement building, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said Sunday. "Something has to be done about the problem of the settlements," he said. "The settlements continue to grow and continue to expand."