TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure . The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.

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