The Palestinians said the new Israeli plans for settlement construction announced on Sunday showed that the Jewish state was "not serious" in its efforts to negotiate peace.

The tenders for over 1,000 homes in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem were proof that Israel "was not serious in the negotiations," Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh said in a statement.

He charged that Israel "aims through this condensed settlement activity to destroy the basis of the solution called for by the international community, which aims to establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders."

Renewed peace talks are due to start on Wednesday.