Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel is putting conditions on its reply to the US request for a settlement construction halt that will enable the country to "continue the settlement activities even ...if these settlement activities are limited," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ali Abu Al-Gheit‎ told reporters.

Abu Al-Gheit spoke during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton following a day and a half of meetings in the Egyptian capital.

"United States and Secretary Clinton feel that there has been a progress..about the issue of freezing the settlements, even if it’s not fully complete," the foreign minister continued, echoing the American stance that the most recent Israeli offer on the matter is a step forward.

Clinton explained again the stance Israel put forward, "What we have received from the Israelis to halt all new settlement activity – and I’ll repeat that again, too – to halt all new settlement activities and to end the expropriation of land, and to issue no permits or approvals," and once again called the move "unprecedented."

The offer falls far short of both Palestinian and stated American positions. According to Clinton, "[US]policy on settlement activity has not changed. We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity. And we have a very firm belief that ending all settlement activity, current and future, would be preferable, and that is what we have put forth, and that is what we have continued to support."

Palestinian leaders have repeatedly stated their refusal to sit down with Israeli negotiators until settlement construction has stopped completely. Since talks would center on the creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 boundaries, Palestinians have said they require a demonstration of Israeli seriousness around the creation of a Palestinian state by halting the colonization process of internationally recognized Palestinian land.