Israel has issued orders to seize more Palestinian land to build its separation barrier along a route that would effectively annex the West Bank's largest Jewish settlement to Jerusalem.
Palestinians have reacted angrily to the latest seizure plan, saying the barrier would cut them off from the part of Jerusalem they claim for a state.
Palestinians repeated their belief that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's intention is to solidify Israel's grip on its main West Bank settlement blocs after the limited withdrawal from illegal settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The settlement, Maaleh Adumim, three miles east of Jerusalem in the Judean desert, has about 30,000 residents. Mr Sharon has said repeatedly it will remain in Israel even after a final peace accord with the Palestinians.
Israel says the barrier is needed to keep suicide bombers from entering the country. When complete, the 425-mile complex of walls, electric fences, trenches and barbed wire is expected to include about 8 per cent of the West Bank on the "Israeli" side.
Ir Amim, an Israeli settlement monitoring group, said the Maaleh Adumim barrier confiscation would seize about 23 square miles of land.
The United States issued a statement saying the barrier "is a problem to the extent that it prejudges final borders, confiscates Palestinian property or imposes further hardship on the Palestinian people".