Israel will proceed with plans to build thousands of illegal new housing units in the occupied West Bank, with extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying the new settlement quashes any hope of a Palestinian state.
Smotrich - a West Bank settler himself - said the project would see the construction of 3,401 new houses in the E1 area of the Ma'ale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem.
The project includes the addition of the 'Zibor Midbar' neighborhood, which contains 3,515 new housing units. This is expected to double Ma'ale Adumim's population and attract around 35,000 new settlers in the coming years.
Smotrich was expected to give the final approval for the project on Thursday, Israel’s Channel 12 said.
The extremist minister noted that this project "eliminates the idea of a Palestinian state" and is part of the "de facto sovereignty plan" being implemented by the Israeli government.
He added that the settlement would link Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem and effectively sever the connection between the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Ramallah lies north of Jerusalem, while Bethlehem lies just south of it.
The move comes after a 20-year construction hiatus in the E1 area and despite international criticism demanding a halt to illegal Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under international law, but then Israeli government has repeatedly ignored this for over 50 years.
Israel's security cabinet previously approved plans to build a road designated for Palestinians south of the E1 area, a step that would pave the way for constructing the new settlement.
The road aims to connect Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank to the territory's south while diverting Palestinian vehicle traffic away from Highway 1, dedicating it almost entirely to Israeli settlers traveling between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim.
This further entrenches Israel's apartheid in the West Bank, which was captured by Israel following the 1967 war.
Yisrael Gantz, who heads the Yesha Council – an umbrella organisation of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank – described the move as a "huge historic achievement" for settlements and called on the government to annex the West Bank and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Last month, the settler official backed a symbolic vote to fully annex the West Bank, which Israeli settlers refer to as "Judea and Samaria".
Smotrich, among many Israeli officials, has been an ardent supporter of annexing the territory as well as the Gaza Strip.
The settlement project comes as several Western nations announced they might officially recognise a Palestinian state this year, a move that has been condemned by Israel and its principal ally, the US.
The announcements from countries like the UK, Canada, and Australia come as Israel continues its genocidal war and siege of Gaza that has killed over 60,000 people, with hundreds recently dying from starvation.
The Palestinian foreign ministry based in Ramallah had previously stated that Israel’s settlement plans in the E1 area will prevent the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and will open a new chapter in the 77-year-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
"This settlement construction in this area will separate the northern West Bank from its south, turning the West Bank into two separate enclaves.
"The United Nations, with all its agencies, has called for all legal and political measures to be taken to prevent Israel from implementing its plans aimed at closing all political horizons and destroying hopes for a two-state solution," the ministry said.