Britain urged Israel on Tuesday to freeze settlement activities in the occupied territories, warning that they threaten the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"Continued settlement construction threatens the goal of a two-state solution to which the Israeli government itself is committed," British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Bill Rammell told reporters in Amman.

"For a Palestinian state to become a reality there has to be a complete halt to the construction and expansion of illegal settlements Israel is building on land outside its internationally recognised borders, which are those of 1967."

Rammell said Britain, Jordan "and all those working for peace are quite clear that such settlement activity must stop."

The international community regards all West Bank settlements as illegal, and the Palestinians say continued settlement construction is a major hurdle in the US-backed peace process.

More than 260,000 Israelis are estimated to live in government-authorised settlements across the occupied West Bank, with another 200,000 in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.

Rammell was in Jordan for talks with Foreign Minister Salah Bashir.

"Israel should take positive and practical steps towards the peace process," Bashir was quoted by the state-run Petra news agency as telling Rammell.

Jordan and Israel have been bound by a peace treaty since 1994. Britain urged Israel on Tuesday to freeze settlement activities in the occupied territories, warning that they threaten the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"Continued settlement construction threatens the goal of a two-state solution to which the Israeli government itself is committed," British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Bill Rammell told reporters in Amman.

"For a Palestinian state to become a reality there has to be a complete halt to the construction and expansion of illegal settlements Israel is building on land outside its internationally recognised borders, which are those of 1967."

Rammell said Britain, Jordan "and all those working for peace are quite clear that such settlement activity must stop."

The international community regards all West Bank settlements as illegal, and the Palestinians say continued settlement construction is a major hurdle in the US-backed peace process.

More than 260,000 Israelis are estimated to live in government-authorised settlements across the occupied West Bank, with another 200,000 in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.

Rammell was in Jordan for talks with Foreign Minister Salah Bashir.

"Israel should take positive and practical steps towards the peace process," Bashir was quoted by the state-run Petra news agency as telling Rammell.

Jordan and Israel have been bound by a peace treaty since 1994.