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.

MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank/TEL AVIV, (Reuters) -Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem,

Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned Israel's approval of plans to build settlements around Jerusalem, saying that it represents a continuation of "the illegal expansionist policies of the Israeli government".