The Palestinian Authority has pulled out of informal talks with Israel over a newly announced settlement expansion in East Jerusalem. Israel announced this week it had authorized plans to build 1,600 new homes in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo. The move came just as Vice President Joe Biden was in Israel to promote a renewal of US-backed peace talks. On Wednesday, the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, announced Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had ruled out talks for now. Moussa also called on the Obama administration to exert meaningful pressure on the Israeli government.

Amr Moussa: “The condemnation is not enough. The condemnation is welcome but cannot really bring the parties to the table of negotiations while the territories are being settled and the announcements, one after the other, by the government of Israel that they are going to build more settlements in Jerusalem, occupied Jerusalem, or in the rest of the Occupied Territories.”

Moussa’s comments came hours after Vice President Biden met with Abbas in Ramallah. Biden condemned the Israeli settlement expansion, but offered no new steps to pressure Israel, including the conditioning of US aid on freezing and dismantling settlements.

Vice President Joe Biden: “Yesterday, the decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin, as well as produce, have profitable negotiations. That is why I immediately condemned the action. As we move forward, the United States will hold both sides accountable for any statements or actions that inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of talks, as this decision did.”