TEL AVIV, (Reuters) -Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans overnight for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state.

Israel said Thursday it was moving forward with controversial plans to build thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank, a development far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state.

"The plan is the 'final nail in the coffin' for the concept of a Palestinian state," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich remarked. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the new E1 settlement plan near Ma’aleh Adumim,