Israel approves plan to ‘bury idea of a Palestinian state’

Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, in a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state.

- ALASTAIR JAMIESON

It was not immediately clear if Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would divide the West Bank in two. The approval of the plan is likely to draw international fury.

In a statement headlined “Burying the idea of a Palestinian state”, Mr Smotrich’s spokesperson said more details would be given later about the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Israel had frozen construction plans there since 2012 because of objections from the United States, European allies, and other world powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians.

The plan to revive the E1 scheme comes as more than 100 agencies and charities warned that Israel's rules for aid groups working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief, as well as replacing independent organisations with those that serve Israel's political and military agenda.