Israel aims to curb Palestine through settlement expansion - report

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced a contentious new settlement construction in the West Bank which may scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts, The Jerusalem Post reported.

“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,” Smotrich said.

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 U.S. pressure during previous administrations.

The plan includes around 3,400 apartments to expand the settlement of Maale Adumim.

The plan has not yet received its final approval, which is expected next week. If the process moves quickly, infrastructure work could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year.