JERUSALEM -- Israel would be allowed to finish hundreds of apartments already under construction in West Bank settlements even if it agrees to a U.S.-drafted deal to renew a freeze on new construction, a diplomat familiar with the details said Monday.

The U.S. is pressing Israel to renew a settlement slowdown that expired in September in order to get stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks moving again. In exchange, it is offering Israel military hardware and veto protection against U.N. resolutions critical of its policies.

According to the emerging deal, construction would have to halt for 90 days on hundreds of additional homes begun after the first slowdown expired on Sept. 26. But that freeze would not apply to apartments already under construction that were exempted in the first slowdown, the diplomat said.

Officials had earlier given conflicting accounts regarding the fate of those homes.

"From our understanding, what was allowed under the previous freeze can continue. What was not allowed under the previous freeze cannot continue," the diplomat said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the deal have not been finalized.

The Palestinians have not said whether they would accept the deal, whose details they have not yet discussed with the Americans, they say. "Once we see it we will meet and have a response," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

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