Editing Second Intifada (section)

===Israeli settlements===
While Peres had limited settlement construction at the request of US Secretary of State, [[Madeleine Albright]],<ref name="Schmemann">{{cite news |author=Schmemann |first=Serge |author-link=Serge Schmemann |date=5 December 1997 |title=In West Bank, 'Time' for Settlements Is Clearly Not 'Out' |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E3D9133DF936A35751C1A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |url-status=live |access-date=18 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326135407/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/05/world/in-west-bank-time-for-settlements-is-clearly-not-out.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print |archive-date=26 March 2022}}</ref> Netanyahu continued construction within existing Israeli settlements<ref name=FMEP>{{Cite journal|title=Extraordinary Increase in Settlement Construction as Diplomacy Falters |journal=Settlement Report |publisher=Foundation for Middle East Peace |volume=8 |issue=2 |date=March–April 1998 |url=http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-8/no.-2/extraordinary-increase-in-settlement-construction-as-diplomacy-falters |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130414194355/http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-8/no.-2/extraordinary-increase-in-settlement-construction-as-diplomacy-falters |archive-date=2013-04-14 }}</ref> and put forward plans for the construction of a new neighbourhood, [[Har Homa]], in [[East Jerusalem]]. However, he fell far short of the Shamir government's 1991–92 level and refrained from building new settlements, although the Oslo agreements stipulated no such ban.<ref name=Schmemann/> Construction of housing units before Oslo, 1991–92: 13,960; after Oslo, 1994–95: 3,840; 1996–1997: 3,570.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/housing-starts-in-israel-the-west-bank-and-gaza-strip-settlements-1990-2003 |title=Housing Starts in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip Settlements*, 1990–2003 |publisher=Foundation for Middle East Peace |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118071542/http://fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/housing-starts-in-israel-the-west-bank-and-gaza-strip-settlements-1990-2003 |archive-date=18 November 2008}}</ref>

With the aim of marginalising the settlers' more militant wing, Barak courted moderate settler opinion, securing agreement for the dismantlement of 12 new outposts that had been constructed since the [[Wye River Agreement]] of November 1998,<ref name=Youngs>{{cite web |title=The Middle East Crisis: Camp David, the 'Al-Aqsa Intifada' and the Prospects for the Peace Process|author=Tim Youngs, International Affairs and Defence Section |publisher=[[House of Commons Library]] |date=24 January 2001|access-date=18 December 2007 |url=http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2001/rp01-009.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227143042/http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2001/rp01-009.pdf |archive-date=27 February 2008}}</ref> but the continued expansion of existing settlements with plans for 3,000 new houses in the [[West Bank]] drew strong condemnation from the Palestinian leadership. Though construction within existing settlements was permitted under the Oslo agreements, Palestinian supporters contend that any continued construction was contrary to its spirit,<ref name="Schmemann" /> prejudiced the outcome of final status negotiations, and undermined Palestinian confidence in Barak's desire for peace.<ref name=Youngs />