Occupied West Bank (Quds News Network)- Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Thursday that he will move forward with the highly controversial E1 settlement project, which “buries the idea of a Palestinian state” and would divide the occupied West Bank in two. Smotrich said he would approve tenders to build more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 area settlement project that would connect occupied Jerusalem and the existing illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, located several kilometres to the east. “Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government,” the finance minister said. “After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best - building, settling, and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.” In a statement before the announcement, Smotrich, who is also a minister in Israel’s Ministry of Defence with broad responsibility for approving settlements in the occupied West Bank, hailed the project as “Zionism at its best”. “After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem,” Smotrich added. The E1 construction plan dates back to the late 1990s, and its implementation has repeatedly been delayed due to international opposition. The E1 plan has not yet received final approval, which is expected next week. Israel Gantz, chairman of the Yesha Council – an umbrella organisation of illegal settlements in the West Bank – and head of the Binyamin Regional Council, praised the “tremendous and historic achievement for the settlement movement”, according to Israel National News. Gantz said it was a “true revolution in strengthening the settlement enterprise”, the outlet said. Maale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach also hailed the new settlement, saying it will “connect Maale Adumim to Jerusalem and serve as a Zionist response of settlement and nation-building”. “The Palestinians aimed to establish a stranglehold through illegal construction – this project will thwart that effort,” he said, according to Israel National News. Israel postponed the plan in 2022 following United States pressure. But in recent months, Netanyahu’s far-right government has approved road-widening projects in the area and begun restricting Palestinian access. On Wednesday, Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said a total of 4,030 new housing units had been approved in the occupied West Bank. Some 730 are west of the existing Israeli settlement of Ariel, while 3,300 had been approved in a new Maale Adumim neighbourhood that will connect it “with the industrial zone to its east”. “The 3,300 housing units in Maale Adumim represent an increase of about 33 percent in the settlement’s housing stock – an enormous expansion for a settlement whose population has been stagnant at around 38,000 for the past decade,” it said. It added that the Maale Adumim extension raised “serious questions about the need for the E1 plan”. “Since 1999 until now, whenever Israel tried to activate this project, all the American administrations would block it and stop it,” Jamal Juma, coordinator for Stop the Wall campaign, said. “Because they know this is one of the most dangerous settlement projects that would totally separate the south of the West Bank from the middle and the north.” The E1 project seeks to cut off Palestinian communities between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, which includes a historic area known as al-Bariyah, or "the Wilderness of Jerusalem", which Palestine submitted to Unesco's tentative list of heritage sites. “This also means that the main historical route that has existed for more than 3,000 years existed - the road Jesus took from Jericho to Jerusalem - is going to be totally closed for the Palestinians,” said Juma. The isolation of East Jerusalem from parts of the West Bank will force Palestinians to take lengthy detours to travel between several cities and towns. The plan has been likened to fragmenting occupied Palestine into "Bantustans", a reference to Black-only ghettos created across apartheid South Africa. “Hebron and Bethlehem will become another Gaza - a strip isolated from the West. Ramallah will be the same,” said Juma. Israel, Juma added, “started putting the framework for this when they started building the wall. It has been shaping the apartheid system, by isolating the Palestinians from each other, from their lands.” Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Settlements are illegal under international law. Smotrich and other Israeli figures have repeatedly spoken of the “sovereignty plan”, referring to the formal annexation of parts of the West Bank through changing the reality on the ground. Trump’s Support The far-right minister said he has support from US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his controversial plan. “[Netanyahu] backs me up in everything concerning Judea and Samaria, and is letting me create the revolution,” Smotrich said, using a biblical term for the West Bank. He spoke at an event in Maale Adumim, The Times of Israel newspaper reported. Smotrich also said Trump and Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 settlement project, which the finance minister has said “buries the idea of a Palestinian state”. Smotrich thanked them for their support, calling them “men of truth with a clear and distinct moral voice that is not confused by the hypocrisy of the West”. He added that Trump and Huckabee believed “that a Palestinian state would endanger the existence of Israel” and that the West Bank is “an inseparable part of our land, the one that God promised to our father Abraham and gave to us thousands of years ago”. Widespread Condemnations Israel has faced international condemnation following the announced plans. Here are some: Hamas Hamas declared August 15 a nationwide “day of rage” in support of Gaza and in opposition to Israeli illegal settlement expansion and annexation plans in the occupied West Bank. In a statement, the group urged mass participation across West Bank’s cities, villages, and refugee camps, calling for escalating protests and “all forms of resistance” in response. The statement also called on all Palestinian factions and civil society groups to unite and support residents in areas threatened by planned settlement and land confiscation, saying annexation plans will be defeated by “the people’s will and continued resistance”. Germany Germany "firmly rejects the Israeli government's announcements regarding the approval of thousands of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson in a statement on Friday. Plans for the "E1" settlement and the expansion of Maale Adumim would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank by splitting it in half and cutting the area off from East Jerusalem, said the spokesperson. Norway Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the move by Smotrich showed that Israel “seeks to appropriate land owned by Palestinians in order to prevent a two-state solution.” Turkey In a statement on Thursday, Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry said the establishment of an independent Palestinian state was the only way to achieve lasting peace. “This step … totally disregards international law and United Nations resolutions; targets the State of Palestine’s territorial integrity, the basis for a two-state solution, and hopes for peace,” it said. Qatar The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement posted on X, said it “reaffirms Qatar’s unequivocal rejection of the Israeli occupation’s policies aimed at expanding settlements and forcibly displacing Palestinian people, measures intended to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state”. EU In a statement, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas slammed Israeli authorities’ E1 settlement plan as a “breach of international law” that would further undermine a potential two-state solution. “If implemented, settlement construction in this area will permanently cut the geographical and territorial contiguity between occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank,” said Kallas. “The EU urges Israel to desist from taking this decision forward, noting its far-reaching implications.” OIC The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) decried the announcement and said Israeli occupation and settlement expansion are illegal under international law, United Nations resolutions, and the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and must end immediately. It warned that Israel’s ongoing policies of aggression, settlement building, destruction, displacement and blockade amount to systematic crimes that violate Palestinian rights, undermine the two-state solution and entrench annexation plans. The OIC urged the international community to take responsibility, hold Israel accountable, and impose sanctions in line with international law and relevant UN resolutions. UN The United Nations urged Israel to reverse its decision. “It would put an end to prospects of a two-state solution,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “Settlements go against international law … [and] further entrench the occupation.” US Asked about Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s claim that Netanyahu and Trump backed his plans, a spokesperson for the US State Department said Washington is focused on ending the war in Gaza and ensuring Hamas will never govern that territory again. “A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” the spokesperson said, while referring to the Israeli government for further information. Jordan Jordan’s Foreign Ministry condemned in the “strongest terms” Smotrich’s announcement. In a statement, the Ministry’s official spokesperson, Ambassador Sufyan Qudah, affirmed Jordan’s “absolute rejection and condemnation of this settlement plan and the illegal Israeli measures that constitute a blatant violation of international law and international Security Council resolutions”.