Israel announces West Bank settlement that rights groups say could imperil Palestinian state

MAALE ADUMIM: Israel’s far-right finance minister announced a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts. The announcement comes as many countries said they would recognize a Palestinian state in September. “This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,” said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

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