Aug. 14 (UPI) -- Israel announced plans Thursday to revive a shelved a 3,400-home development in the West Bank that would seal it off from East Jerusalem and partition the occupied territory, effectively sinking the possiblilty of a Palestinian state.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right cabinet member who is under international sanctions and investigation by the International Criminal Court over the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, said the so-called E1 project would "bury the idea of a Palestinian state."
The proposed development between East Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim, another Israeli settlement, has been on ice for more than a decade due to the international community's opposition to the settlements, which are illegal under international law, and in particular E1 because of the risk to efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian question.
"After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best -- building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel," Smotrich said.
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