Israel approves West Bank-splitting settlement

Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

- AGENCIES Tel Aviv, 21 August

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks.

"The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions," he said on Wednesday.

"Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea."