TEL AVIV, Sept. 12 (TASS): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans to build thousands of housing units for settlers in the E-1 zone of the West Bank while declaring that Israel considers this land its own and will not allow the creation of a separate Palestinian state.

The statement was made during a ceremony in the city of Maale Adumim, located in the West Bank, a few kilometers from Jerusalem and disseminated by the prime minister's office.

"The city of Maale Adumim will double in size. Within five years, 70,000 people will live here. These are monumental changes," he stated.

Netanyahu recalled that he had previously promised to approve new construction in this area and that this promise is now being fulfilled. "There is another promise we will keep. We said: there will be no Palestinian state, and indeed, there will not be! This land belongs to us. We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security," the Israeli prime minister asserted.

About settlement plans
According to the human rights organization Shalom Akhshav (The World is Now), Israel has approved plans for the construction of 3,400 housing units for settlers in the E-1 area near the city of Maale Adumim to the east of Jerusalem. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, said on August 8 that Israel now aims to "erase the Palestinian state." The politician, who concurrently oversees settlement activities in the West Bank of the Jordan River in the Israeli Defense Ministry, promised to restore several Jewish settlements withdrawn from there. On August 14, he said the project to expand the Maale Adumim settlement complex and build new housing in the E-1 zone will be resumed.

In 2016, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement activities, but Israel refused to comply.

Photo from AP