Israel moves to extend its 'Iron Curtain'
The Israeli Cabinet has approved an extension of a security barrier that would encircle Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank.
Large gaps will remain in the fence for now to address American concerns.
One stretch may be built east of Ariel - with 18,000 residents the second largest settlement in the West Bank - but would not immediately be connected to the main security fence which runs further west, closer to Israel.
Israeli radio reports similar barriers would also be erected east of several other settlements in the West Bank heartland.
Palestinian officials are demanding the United States stop the construction.
"All these are procedures and actions that destroy all possibilities for peace and bringing about calm, be it settlements, the wall, or what is happening around Jerusalem," said the incoming Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia.
The United States wants the barrier to run close to the Green Line, the frontier between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Middle east war.
The Bush administration has said it might deduct some of the construction cost for the barrier from €7.6bn in US loan guarantees to Israel.
About one-fourth of the barrier has already been built in the northern West Bank. In some parts, it runs close to Israel. However, in other areas, the barrier dips further into the West Bank, isolating several Palestinian villages and cutting residents off from their land.
The most contested issue in planning the next segment was whether the barrier would incorporate Ariel, cutting deep into areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.
