The US secretary of state has told Al Jazeera that Washington wants an end to illegal Israeli settlements. <br /><br />On Saturday, Hillary Clinton had appeared to signal a change in tone, praising Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, for "unprecedented restraint", despite his refusal to halt settlement expansion.<br /><br />She said that despite Washington's frequent calls for a settlement freeze, that was not a precondition for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. <br /><br />Those comments were immediately condemned by Palestinian officials.<br /><br />In an interview with Al Jazeera in Morocco, Clinton said Washington's policy has not shifted
