(AP) -- A scaled-back conference to examine whether Jewish settlements violate international law went ahead Thursday over Israeli and U.S. objections.

(AP) -- A scaled-back conference to examine whether Jewish settlements violate international law went ahead Thursday over Israeli and U.S. objections.

A senior Palestinian official said he hoped the U.N.-ordered session would approve a "non-provocative" statement on how the settlements in Israeli-occupied territory affect the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war.

"It's a fully agreed scenario" after consultations lasting late into Wednesday night between Arab and European countries, said Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian planning minister and senior Palestinian representative to the conference.

Israeli and U.S. officials have said their countries will stay away. They argue the conference is unhelpful at a time when efforts are being made to revive the Middle East peace process under new Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

The U.N. General Assembly voted 115-2 in February to convene the meeting, with Israel and the United States casting the only no votes. Attending the closed-door session at the U.N. European headquarters will be interested countries that have ratified the conventions.

Palestinian officials have insisted that the conference go ahead, even if curtailed. A short plenary session was planned Thursday, Shaath said.

A draft text to be put to the conference said signatories "reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem" and "reiterated the need for full respect for the provisions of the said convention in that territory."

The Palestinians assert Israel's settlement activity violates the Fourth Geneva Convention's prohibition on population transfers in occupied territories.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its capital and says its claim to the West Bank, site of the heaviest settlement construction, is as solid as Palestinian claims. Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan.

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