Israel Approves West Bank Settlement Project That Advocacy Groups Say ‘Guarantees More Bloodshed’

Israel has approved Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's plan to build more than 3,000 new housing units as part of a settlement project in the occupied West Bank.

During a final approval hearing on Wednesday, the construction—which Smotrich has said will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”—was given the green light, despite major concerns by advocacy groups.

“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions,” said Smotrich after the hearing, echoing his previous remarks shooting down the possibility of a two-state solution in the Israel-Hamas war.

“They will talk about a Palestinian dream, and we will continue to build a Jewish reality,” said Smotrich during a press conference announcing the project on Aug. 14. “This reality is what will permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to make a statement regarding the settlement plan being approved, nor is it clear when construction might begin. TIME has reached out to his office for comment.

Far-right politician Smotrich’s plan sees the revival of the widely-critiqued E1 project worked on by Jerusalem officials and the Maale Adumim settlement. The project, which had been on ice for decades due to international concerns, effectively isolates the territory by cutting off the West Bank from East Jerusalem.

Critics have condemned the advancement of the plan, citing fears that this split will prove detrimental to any possibility of a Palestinian state in the future.

Israeli advocacy group Peace Now warned last week that the “government’s annexation moves” are “guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed.”

“The E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed,” the group said in an online statement. “There is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the terrible war in Gaza—the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel—and it will ultimately come.”

Read More: The Violent Gaza-ification of the West Bank

The West Bank is defined by the United Nations as under Israeli military occupation. Smotrich is a long-time proponent of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are widely considered to be in violation of international law. Smotrich has been administered with sanctions by the U.K. and others after being accused of inciting violence against Palestinians in the territory.

Smotrich’s settlement project comes as the international spotlight on Israel intensifies, with growing calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war amid mass concerns over the ongoing malnutrition crisis in Gaza and backlash over Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip.

A number of countries have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state, should Israel not meet certain conditions. In July, U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the U.K. would formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless Israel implements a cease-fire and commits to a two-state solution. France, Australia, and Canada are among the countries that have made similar statements.

Read More: Israeli Settler Violence Escalates in the West Bank After Death of Palestinian-American

Reports of escalating violence in the West Bank, specifically Israeli settler attacks, are also causing global concern.

According to an Aug. 7 report by the United Nations, between July 29 and Aug. 4, two Palestinian adults were killed in the West Bank, one by Israeli forces and the other by an armed settler. Within that same timeframe, “at least 57 Palestinians, including 11 children, were injured, the majority by Israeli forces and 14 by Israeli settlers.”

There have been heightened tensions in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, which was triggered after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Over 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME.