Today, more than a quarter-million Israelis live in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem.
It rejects anything less than a total Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem.
All settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in January that since 1967, Israel has established about 150 settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in addition to about 100 "outposts" erected by settlers without official authorization.
Nearly 6 in 10 Palestinians say they think Hamas and Islamic Jihad should not give up their "armed struggle" against Israel even if Israel were to leave all the "territories, " including East Jerusalem and grant statehood to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian militants accused Mr Abbas of conceding too much ground at Aqaba, without calling for Israel's full withdrawal from the territories it occupied in the 1967 war (including East Jerusalem) or pushing for the right of return for Palestinian refugees who fled in 1948 when Israel was created.
The Clinton proposal, which was declared null and void by the Bush administration early last year, envisioned the establishment of a Palestinian state in about 95 percent of Judea and Samaria, all of the Gaza Strip, east Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, and the Halutza dunes inside pre- 1967 Israel.
According to Israel's Peace Now movement, Mr Barak, since he came to power, has sanctioned 4, 028 new houses in Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, including 2, 149 in or near East Jerusalem.
"The United States opposes all unilateral actions, including West Bank settlement activity and housing construction in East Jerusalem, as they complicate efforts to resume direct, bilateral negotiations, and risk prejudging the outcome of those negotiations, " deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.
That consistently growing presence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank has caused great tension between Israel and the Arab world, including the Palestinians.
Last weekend, as the Americans struggled to unfreeze the talks, the Israeli cabinet gave initial approval to a plan that expands Jerusalem's municipal borders, partly by including (though not annexing) two Jewish settlements east and north of the city and the West Bank land between them and the city (see article).
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