JERUSALEM, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel has begun on Monday to build a police station in an area between a West Bank settlement and Jerusalem, Israel's local TV Channel 2 reported.

    The police station for the Judea and Samaria District is in an area between Ma'aleh Adumim, the largest settlement in the West Bank , and Jerusalem, said the TV report.

    Meanwhile, Israel's newspaper Ha'aretz reported that a large neighborhood is planned in the area, a move that is opposed by the United States because the Palestinians want the West Bank part of a future Palestinian state.

    Palestinians say the project is aimed at eventually linking Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem as the two places lie only nine kilometers away.

    The Palestinians fear that by linking Ma'aleh Adumim and the holy city, they would be prevented from setting up a capital in East Jerusalem and ensuring free access for them.

    The construction of the police station was approved last August by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who remains in a coma since he was felled by a massive stroke on Jan. 4.

    A government source said on Monday that construction began regardless of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, "according to the old plan."

    Olmert said over the weekend that the police station would be built up to create territorial contiguity between Ma'aleh Adumimand Jerusalem.

    The police station construction came days after Olmert vowed todraw Israel's borders within four years if he wins the upcoming March 28 elections.

    Olmert also indicated that the borders would include the West Bank settlement bloc of Gush Etzion, the "Ariel region" of settlements in the north, the "Jerusalem envelope", Ma'aleh Adumimand the Jordan River Valley.

    The U.S., which backs the road map peace plan, has been calling on Israel to seize settlement expansion in the West Bank where the Palestinians want along the Gaza Strip as parts of a future state.   Enditem