This comes after Smotrich announced his approval for settlements in the E1 area. Germany on Friday called on the Israeli government to stop settlement construction in the West Bank after Israel's far-right finance minister said work would start on a plan for thousands of home that would divide the Palestinian territory.

Israel's far-right finance minister announced approval of the construction of a contentious settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that he says "buries the idea of a Palestinian state."

Israel’s far-right finance minister has announced the final approval of contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scutt