Israel’s Civil Administration on Wednesday granted final approval for the long-stalled E1 settlement project, authorising construction of roughly 3,400 homes on a 12-square-kilometre tract of land between Jerusalem and the existing settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. The decision unclogs a plan first floated more than two decades ago and frozen repeatedly under international pressure. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who championed the project, called the green light “historic” and said it “buries” the idea of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority denounced the move as a violation of international law that would bisect the occupied West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem, further eroding prospects for a two-state solution. E1 is one of the last open corridors linking the northern and southern West Bank. The United Nations, European Union and governments including Germany warned that building there threatens the territorial contiguity of a future Palestinian state. Israeli rights group Peace Now estimates infrastructure work could start within months and housing construction within about a year. The approval comes as several Western capitals weigh recognising Palestinian statehood and as settlement activity accelerates under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition. More than 700,000 Israelis already live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the vast majority of the international community considers illegal.