speak to the media.

As an example of a door slamming, the official cited the UNESCO bid and the effort to win membership in the United Nations among other instances of Palestinian actions that damaged prospects for a peace deal.

The Israeli government has also put a temporary hold on the transfer of Palestinian tax revenue collected by the Israeli government, the official said. Palestinians rely on the revenue to fund government operations, including the payment of public sector salaries.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas' spokesman, criticized the Israeli construction announcement, calling the decision one "to accelerate the destruction of the peace process," according to WAFA, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency.

Senior Palestinian negotiator, Mohamad Ishtayeh, similarly condemned the move.

"Two days ago, they (Israeli government) announced the building of one million settlementhousing units over the span of ten years. What Israel decided today was another episode in settlement construction. Using the UNESCO Palestinian membership is only looking for excuses and another way of building settlement housing units. This fits within the overall plan which was announced two days ago before the UNESCO vote," he told CNN.

Separately on Tuesday, the permanent observer of the Palestinian Authority to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said he sent a letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations and the president of the Security Council on Israel.

"We write today to express our grave concern about the military escalation undertaken by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Gaza Strip," he wrote. Within the past four days, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 11 people and