Palestinian leadership delays decision on peace talks

Mr Sarkozy said he deplored Israel’s failure to extend the freeze, adding he would tell Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu in a scheduled telephone conversation that he had to do more.

As the moratorium expired, Mr Netanyahu called on the Palestinians to continue peace talks, which recently resumed after a 20-month pause and have the strong backing of US President Barack Obama.

He made no direct mention of the issue of the settlement freeze, but maintained that it was possible “to achieve a historic framework accord within a year”.

“Israel is ready to pursue continuous contacts in the coming days to find a way to continue peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

He had earlier urged settlers “to display restraint and responsibility”.

If in the next few days Palestinian leaders see the extent of construction in the West Bank has been limited, that might be enough to keep them at the table, says our correspondent.

Some Jewish settlers celebrated the end of the construction ban. At the settlement of Revava, near the Palestinian town of Deir Itsia, they released balloons and broke ground for a new nursery school before the moratorium expired.

Hamas call

Meanwhile, the exiled head of Hamas – the Palestinian Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip – called on Mr Abbas to quit the peace talks.

“I call on my brothers at the Palestinian Authority, who had stated they would not pursue talks with the enemy if it continued settlement construction, to hold to their promise,” said Khaled Meshaal from his headquarters in Syria.