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.

Standing at the planned site in Ma’ale Adumim, Bezalel Smotrich told journalists and settlement leaders that the plan would 'bury the idea of a Palestinian state'

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has called on Israel to halt plans for settlement construction in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, warning that the move would breach international law and severely undermine the viability of a two-state solution.