Israel Unveils Settlement Project, Critics Warn Could Split West Bank in Two

Israel's far-right finance minister said Thursday that a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is going ahead, a project that Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a Palestinian state by effectively cutting the territory into two parts.

- TDG NETWORK

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted that the construction, which is expected to get final approval later this month, could thwart Palestinian statehood plans.

His announcement came as many countries, including Australia, Britain, France, and Canada, say they will recognize a Palestinian state in September, at the United Nations General Assembly.

The construction on a tract of land east of Jerusalem named E1 has been under consideration for more than two decades and is especially controversial because it is one of the last geographic links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.

The two cities are 22 kilometers (14 miles) apart by air. But once the E1 settlement project is completed, it will destroy the possibility of a direct route and will force Palestinians traveling between cities to continue taking a wide detour several kilometers (miles) out of their way, passing through multiple checkpoints, a process that adds hours to the journey.