Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Israeli settlers to show restraint after the end of a ban on construction in the West Bank.
Settler leaders have vowed to begin next week building about 2000 homes in the occupied West Bank, where the 10-month moratorium was set to expire at midnight on Sunday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to quit the direct peace negotiations, launched in Washington on 2 September, unless the moratorium was extended.
Mr Netanyahu, whose governing coalition is dominated by pro-settler parties, has resisted calls from US President Barack Obama to do so.
He has, however, held out the prospect of limiting the scope of renewed construction. In a statement, he called on West Bank residents and political parties to show "restraint and responsibility".
Mr Netanyahu has also called on Mr Abbas not to walk out of the talks.
