Israel's Smotrich approves settlement splitting East Jerusalem from West Bank

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state, Report informs via Reuters.

It was not immediately clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would effectively lop the West Bank in two and will likely draw international ire.

In a statement headlined "Burying the idea of a Palestinian state," Smotrich's spokesperson announced the decision and said the development would 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.

Palestinians fear the settlement building in the West Bank - which has sharply intensified since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war - will rob them of any chance to build a state of their own in the area.

Settler violence has skyrocketed, from destruction of olive groves and cutting water and electricity in communities like Susiya, to incendiary attacks on Christian holy sites.

Smotrich's popularity has fallen in recent months with polls showing his party would not win a single seat if parliamentary elections were held today.

The Palestinian foreign ministry called the new settlement plan an extension of crimes of genocide, displacement and annexation, and an echo of Netanyahu's statements regarding what he called 'Greater Israel'. Israel has long rejected accusations of genocide and rights abuses and said it is acting in its own defense.