Al-Quds city, June 26, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has turned up the pressure on Israel to stop expanding WestBank settlements, cautioning in her recent visit that Washington wouldn't accept new construction, Israeli officials said Sunday. The U.S. Embassy and Israeli Foreign Ministry refused tocomment. But the scolding meshes with U.S. President GeorgeW. Bush's criticism of settlement expansion after meetingwith Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas last month. Israeli officials present at a meeting where Rice leveledthe criticism said she did not threaten any particularpenalty for settlement expansion. But they said she wasdispleased by construction she saw when traveling fromJerusalem to the West Bank town of Ramallah for meetingswith Palestinian leaders a week ago. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because ofthe sensitivity of their positions, according to a report of The Associated Press.--SPA1311 Local Time 1011 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/272630