61.   The Palestinians have demanded a halt to all settlement building before talks resume.

62.   The Palestinians maintain the section in the accords requiring no change in the status of the West Bank and Gaza during negotiations amounts to a ban on settlement building.

63.   The United States has also criticized settlement building as an obstacle to the peace process.

64.   The talks were further complicated last month by a controversy over expanding the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat and Palestinian complaints that Israel was planning more settlement building.

65.   The union wants Israel to stop assassinations of Palestinian leaders, end the economic blockade of the Palestinian territories and freeze Jewish settlement building, Pique said.

66.   There were also signs that Israel was edging toward agreeing to a freeze on Jewish settlement building after a cease-fire.

67.   There are also signs that Israel is edging toward agreeing to a freeze on Jewish settlement building after a cease-fire.

68.   To date, Netanyahu flatly has refused Arab demands to stop settlement building and halt construction at Har Homa.

69.   He has resisted US and Arab pressure to freeze settlement building, insisting on the right of Jews to live anywhere in the territories.

70.   He repeated the Palestinian demand for a stop in all settlement building as a condition for a return to negotiations.