Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday briefed his cabinet about US incentives for a fresh 90-day construction ban as a Peace Now report showed settlers have been building at a furious pace.
As ministers heard details of the far-ranging package of US proposals in exchange for a one-off moratorium, the Palestinians said they had not received any official word of Washington''s offer to Israel.
The package involves a 90-day freeze, which would not cover construction in east Jerusalem but would include all building begun since September 26 when the previous 10-month moratorium expired, a source close to the negotiations said.
It also includes a broad package of security offers, as well as a commitment to block any effort to force a political settlement on Israel.
At the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu confirmed that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had presented him with the details when they met in New York on Thursday, but stressed that the package had not yet been finalised.
"It is not yet final, it is still being formulated by our team and that of the Americans. If and when the proposal is completed, I shall bring it to the appropriate government forum, in this case, the security cabinet," he told reporters.
Shortly before the cabinet meeting, settlement watchdog Peace Now published a report showing that in the seven weeks since the end of the moratorium, Jewish settlers have started building 1,649 new homes -- more than making up for the 10-month ban.
"It turns out that the settlement freeze was no more than a 10-month delay in the construction and the settlers managed to fill in the gap very fast," Peace Now said.
The US offer is the latest in a series of steps aimed at persuading Israel to impose a new freeze in a bid to salvage moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.
The talks, which began two months ago, shuddered to a halt over renewed settlement building following the end of the ban, with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas refusing to return to the table unless Israel committed itself to a new one.
Netanyahu has so far rejected any new restrictions.
US officials made no immediate comment about the latest attempt to persuade Israel to reimpose the building ban, and Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP the Palestinian Authority had approached US officials for clarification but had not yet received an answer.
"The Palestinian Authority is waiting for an official answer from the US administration about the details and facts about what is going on with this issue," he said.