RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A senior Palestinian official is warning that the West Bank government will pursue war crime charges against Israel if it doesn't stop settlement construction.

Israel announced a major settlement construction push after the U.N. General Assembly recognized a de facto Palestinian state.

Palestinian official Nabil Shaath said late Monday that "many countries" have urged the Palestinian Authority not to use its new status to seek war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court, a U.N. body.

Shaath says that "by continuing these war crimes of settlement activities" on occupied territories, Israel is "pushing and forcing us to go to the ICC."

Israel has defied calls to rescind its construction plans.