Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved the long-stalled E1 settlement plan, authorising construction of roughly 3,400 homes that would link the Ma’ale Adumim settlement to Jerusalem. The project, frozen for much of the past two decades under international pressure, is designed to extend Israeli jurisdiction across a strategic corridor east of the city and would sever the northern and southern parts of the occupied West Bank. Smotrich, a key figure in Israel’s far-right coalition, said the expansion "buries the idea of a Palestinian state" and called for full Israeli sovereignty over the territory. He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backs the initiative, which aims eventually to bring up to one million Israeli settlers into the West Bank. The announcement triggered swift criticism. A United Nations spokesperson said the plan violates international law and jeopardises any two-state outcome, while the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar issued separate statements urging Israel to abandon the project. The Palestinian Authority warned that the development would entrench a de facto annexation and render a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. E1 has been a focal point of disputes since the 1990s because of its potential to isolate East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities. Rights groups argue the revived plan could displace local Bedouin residents and entrench a system of separate road networks favouring settlers. Israeli officials indicated final bureaucratic steps could be completed within weeks, allowing preliminary infrastructure work to start later this year.