51.   Earlier Sunday, Jewish settlers in Hebron held an angry meeting with Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, who refused to give them permission to expand their settlements.

52.   Efrat residents, insisting a number of the hilltops were purchased by private Jewish owners, want to expand the settlement by building new neighborhoods on there.

53.   Efrat residents, insisting a number of the hilltops were purchased by private Jewish owners, want to expand the settlement by building new neighborhoods on these hilltops.

54.   Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured European leaders that Israel would only expand existing settlements to accommodate natural growth.

55.   From the right, Netanyahu will be under pressure to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank and build more Jewish neighborhoods in disputed Jerusalem.

56.   He has said he would expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, block the creation of a Palestinian state and not discuss the future of Jerusalem.

57.   His Cabinet said Thursday that the government will go ahead with plans to expand settlements.

58.   However, he said there were no plans to offer a cutback in the overall program to expand settlements.

59.   Ignoring Palestinian protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is determined to expand Jewish settlements and would never agree to full Palestinian statehood.

60.   In Cairo, PLO chief negotiator Nabil Shaath said he would raise the attempts to expand Jewish settlements during his talks with Peres.