OCCUPIED JERUSALEM -- Israel continues its occupation of Palestinian lands. All that the world has done is express shock or ignore it all together. Israel is now continuing to expand in East Jerusalem. The White House has as usual just empty words to say.

"We are dismayed at the Jerusalem planning committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed."

The move, despite demands for a freeze by the Palestinians, also undermined Nicolas Sarkozy, just as the French president arrived in Saudi Arabia to push for a Middle East peace conference.

It lessens still further the chance of any meaningful negotiations between the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mahmoud Abbas, the beleaguered president of the Palestinian Authority.

President Barack Obama's credibility in Arab states has been seriously affected by his inability to force Netanyahu to back down on the settlements issue.