A senior Palestinian official on Saturday rejected reports that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was studying withdrawing its recognition of Israel in response to the resumption of settlement building.

"The choices of the Palestinian leadership are known and clear, " said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of PLO's Executive Committee, " they do not include anything about the recognition of Israel."

Pan-Arab Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported Saturday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) "might have to withdraw its recognition of Israel if all efforts to snatch an international recognition of a Palestinian state fail." The London-based newspaper attributed the report to unnamed Palestinian sources.

Peace talks between Israel and the PNA stopped in September, after Israel resumed building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

The Palestinians said they have several options to respond to Israel's refusal to halt the construction, which including asking for worldwide recognition of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Some Latin America countries, including Brazil and Argentina, have recently recognized the Palestinian state on the lands that Israel occupied in 1967.