JERUSALEM, Aug 17: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approved 1,000 more Israeli settler homes in the occupied West Bank to defuse a ruling party mutiny but the move was likely to anger Washington.

US officials suggested the decision, disclosed by Sharon confidants on Tuesday, contradicted Washington's "road map" peace plan that prescribes a freeze on settlement building on territory where Palestinians have been fighting for statehood.

But Housing Minister Tzipi Livni said on Tuesday the construction bids would adhere to "understandings" with Washington that new homes could be erected with in current settlement boundaries. -Reuters