Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement on Thursday to push ahead with a controversial settlement expansion plan that would cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.
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“There will never be a Palestinian state. This place is ours,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank where thousands of new housing units would be added.
“We will safeguard our heritage, our land, and our security.”
Last month, the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final approval from a defence ministry planning commission.
Netanyahu was joined by nationalist members of his coalition, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who in August said a Palestinian state “is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions”.
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Explosions rock Doha as Israeli air strike targets Hamas leaders in Qatar
Explosions rock Doha as Israeli air strike targets Hamas leaders in Qatar
The move, coming two days after Israel tried to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar and was roundly condemned, may add to already strained relations with many of its allies.