Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he will approve plans to build more than 3,000 homes in a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank – a move he said will prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

The so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim settlement has been frozen for decades amid international fierce opposition internationally. Building there would effectively cut off the West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem and significantly obstruct its territorial contiguity.

“The plan will bury the idea of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich said, according to Israeli media.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

They are one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians. About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now – land Palestinians seek for a future independent state.

“After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Maale Adumim to Jerusalem,” Smotrich said.

“This is Zionism at its best – building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.”

It follows declarations in recent days by a growing number of countries of their intention to recognise a Palestinian state in coming months, which Israel has denounced.

Smotrich is to announce the plan at a news conference with settler organisation Yesha Council Chairman Israel Ganz and Ma’ale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach on Thursday, i24 News reports.

Peace Now said: “The Netanyahu government is exploiting every minute to deepen the annexation of the West Bank and prevent the possibility of a two-state solution.

“It is clear to everyone today that the only solution to the conflict, and the only way to defeat Hamas, is through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“The Government of Israel is condemning us to continued bloodshed, instead of working to end it.”

Smotrich, together with national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, was sanctioned by the UK in June over “repeated incitements of violence against Palestinian communities” in the occupied West Bank.

The construction of 3,401 housing units in the E1 area has been frozen for 20 years. Developing the area has long been seen as effectively blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state, because of its strategic position separating areas south of Jerusalem from those to its north, preventing a contiguous Palestinian urban area connecting Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, Israel’s pressure on West Bank Palestinians has increased sharply, justified as legitimate security measures.

The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year.