Response was swift after Israeli Agriculture Minister, Yisrael Katz, announced the settler population will rise by 50 percent over three years to strengthen Israel's hold on the land seized from Syria in 1967.

Syria has responded by saying sovereignty should be resolved by international law, not military power.

The Israeli government announced the plan after Syria's President Bashar al-Assad offered to re-open negotiations. But Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman, Ranaan Gissin, said the settlement expansion had been planned long before Syria offered talks.

Syria wants the Golan Heights returned as part of any peace settlement, but the government of Ariel Sharon appears determined to hold the territory, the BBC reported.

Before the 1967 war, Israel was repeatedly shelled from the Golan, according to Israeli security officials.

Syria is still technically at war with Israel and is also facing the threat of U.S. sanctions unless it takes action against militant groups allegedly operating from its territory. Syria denies the accusation.