The United States is putting " intensive pressure" to prevent a United Nations Security Council ( UNSC) meeting that would discuss the condemnation of Israeli settlement activities, a Palestinian official said Tuesday.

"The Arab and Palestinian discussions to muster quorum allowing the Security Council to convene are facing intensive pressure by Washington," said Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN in Geneva.

The Palestinian leadership decided to seek a UNSC resolution on Jewish settlement activities on Dec. 4, days after the United Nations General Assembly upgraded the status of Palestine to an observer state.

Israel, along with the Obama administration, opposed the upgrading and responded to it by announcements to build more than 4,000 homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as a future capital.

On Monday, Israel released tenders to construct 1,500 homes in a north Jerusalem area, sparking more Palestinian criticism.

Israel and the United States want the Palestinians to resume peace talks, which stopped in 2010 due to a dispute on the settlements. Khraishi said that Washington considers that resorting to the United Nations does not help revive the negotiations.

In February, the United States vetoed a draft resolution condemning the Israeli settlement building though the other 14 members of the council voted in favor of it.