Israel Officially Working On Large Settlement Projects In The West Bank Of Palestine

Israel annexed Palestine with US support. (Pexels-Karolina Grabowska)

JAKARTA - Israel is officially working on a large settlement project in the Palestinian West Bank region. The project has been warned by the international community to threaten the future continuity of the Palestinian state.

"I am proud to announce that some time ago, the civilian government approved the planning for the construction of the E1 settlement," said Maale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach in a statement on Wednesday local time, quoted from AFP.

Israel has long been ambitious to build the project on an area of approximately 12 square kilometers, known as E1 to the east of Jerusalem, but the plan has stalled for years amid international opposition.

Critics say the settlement will effectively divide the West Bank into two, undermine hopes for a Palestinian state adjacent to east Jerusalem as its capital.

Last week, Israel's far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, supported plans to build about 3,400 houses on the very sensitive land, located between Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in Maale Adumim.