US-sponsored ‘peace talks’ with the Zionist entity have reached an impasse because of Israeli settlement activity

US-sponsored ‘peace talks’ with the Zionist entity have reached an impasse because of Israeli settlement activity, a Palestinian spokesman said Thursday, as plans for over 2,000 West Bank units were moved forward.
  
"Israel's settlement activity caused the negotiations to fail and led them to an impasse," Nabil Abu Rudeina, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, told AFP. Abu Rudeina was reacting to the decision of an Israeli defense ministry committee, revealed earlier on Thursday, to push forward with plans to build 2,269 new West Bank settlements.
  
A ministry spokesman said last month the committee had approved the building of 1,015 units in Leshem, Beit El and Almog, leaving Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon's approval as the final step. The same committee approved 1,254 units in Ariel, Shvut Rachel and Shavei Shomron.

This comes as Washington scrambles for a formula to allow the Palestinians and Israelis to carry on the so-called peace talks beyond an April 29 deadline.  

A US State Department spokeswoman, Jennifer Psaki, said that Secretary of State John Kerry had "expressed his concerns" to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu about recent remarks by Yaalon disparaging the United States' negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
  
She added that, given the nearing deadline of April 29 for the Israeli-Palestinian talks, "we are not surprised that there has been an increase in rhetoric over the past couple of weeks given where we are in the process and the pivotal period. But we're just going to keep our head down and focused on the process."