An Israeli court on Tuesday rejected a bid from rights groups to halt development of a settlement in the occupied West Bank that would severely undermine the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state.
The Jerusalem District Court said in a ruling it had dismissed the motion, which aimed to stall the publication of tenders for the settlement east of Jerusalem.
Israel's construction and housing ministry opened a tender for construction of more than 1,200 housing units in July, leading NGOs to file motions against it.
The E1 plan, approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen, notably due to pressure from successive US administrations, would further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.
Reporting by AFP
