Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalal Smotrich has announced approval for more than 3,401 new homes to be built in the so-called E1 zone, near Ma'ale Adumim in the West Bank.
Smotrich, a fierce advocate of West Bank annexation, said the move "buries the idea of a Palestinian state".
The settlement plan was conceived in 1995 but frozen in 2009, in part due to outcry from the international community led by previous US administrations.
Under the proposal, Israel seeks to link Ma’ale Adumim – established east of Jerusalem more than 40 years ago and now home to 40,000 residents – to the Mount Scopus ridge, which lies within Jerusalem’s jurisdiction.
The opposition to construction in the area is primarily due to the fact that connecting Jerusalem with the Ma'ale Adumim settlement would divide the northern and southern parts of the West Bank.
This would make it impractical to connect East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah which are all under Palestinian control, which some see as the basis for a contiguous Palestinian state.
"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," said Smotrich.
"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."
Regavim, a pro-settlement NGO, welcomed the announcement, calling it “a critical step for Jerusalem and for the State of Israel as a whole”.
The E1 plan covers an area of 12 square kilometers (4.63 square miles) between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim, mostly state land to the north and west of the Jerusalem-Ma’ale Adumim road.
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