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

Israel's far-right finance minister said Thursday that a contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is going ahead -- a project that Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a Palestinian state by effectively cutting the territory into two parts.

TEL AVIV, (Reuters) -Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has approved plans 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.

The emotional images of Jews being ripped from their homes by Israeli soldiers galvanized Israel’s far-right and settler movements.

As Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s new military plan for Gaza faces growing criticism abroad, opposition is also building in Israel, with hostage families calling for a nationwide shutdown on Sunday.

In 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump said to Ireland: "If you try to economically isolate Israel, you will bear consequences." In August 2025, a claim spread online that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Ireland over its proposed trade boycott of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.