US Edition
Israel: Minister Says Plan Will “Bury” the Idea of a Palestinian State
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans for 3,401 new settlement homes in the West Bank, a move criticized internationally for undermining peace efforts and the two-state solution.
- Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on August 15, 2025, a plan to build 3,401 houses between a West Bank settlement and East Jerusalem.
- The plan follows decades of settlement activity, frozen and revived since 2012, amid US and international objections and ongoing regional conflict since the 2023 Hamas attack.
- The UN and Palestinian authorities condemned the project as illegal under international law, calling it a war crime that would fragment Palestinian territory and block peace efforts.
- Smotrich stated that advancing the settlement project would effectively end any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, and he claimed that Netanyahu and Trump had agreed to move forward with the E1 development, although neither leader has publicly confirmed this.
- The plan's implementation risks deepening division in the West Bank, undermining the two-state solution, and escalating international isolation amid continued focus on ending the Gaza war.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Colorado Springs Gazette
UN rights office says Israeli settlement plan breaks international law
(Reuters) -The U.N. human rights office said on Friday an Israeli plan to build to build thousands of new homes between an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law, and would put…
Israel: Minister says plan will “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state
Israel’s far-right finance minister on Thursday announced plans to revive a contentious settlement plan in the occupied West Bank, which Palestinians and rights groups fear will scuttle plans for a future Palestinian state. The so-called E1 scheme linking Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement has been frozen for decades amid international opposition, including from the US. Carys Garland tells us more.
Annexation 'illegal', says EU, as Israel plans to 'bury idea of a Palestinian state'
The EU says Israeli plans to annex Palestinian territory is illegal — amid government proposals to carve out a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank, with with promises by far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich to "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".
Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich reveals plans to ‘bury’ any hope of Palestinian state
Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced that work will start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.
Israel's Smotrich is sabotaging Trump's dream of Saudi normalization
Israel's impending approval to build in the E1 area of the West Bank will kill the two-state solution – and threatens Donald Trump's coveted Nobel Peace Prize, since Saudi-Israel normalization is contingent on a Palestinian state
OIC condemns Israel’s plan to end Palestinian statehood
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has issued a stern condemnation of Israel’s latest settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank, warning these actions represent a deliberate attempt to erase the concept of a Palestinian state. In a strongly-worded statement released through the World News Agency, the 57-nation Muslim bloc characterized the settlement drive as both a violation of international law and a potential war crime. …
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