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.

But a crucial roadblock — discouragement from the United States — was lifted last week when Ambassador Mike Huckabee said the United States would not oppose E1. Huckabee is a longtime support of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli occupation authorities have classified more than 2,400 Palestinian archaeological sites in the occupied West Bank as Israeli sites, says Palestinian research institute

Israel’s far-right finance minister says 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 future Palestinian state by effectively cutting the West Bank into two separate parts.

Boulder’s financial investments and how some of those dollars trickle over to Gaza is once again dominating public conversation at Boulder City Council meetings.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul voiced strong criticism on Wednesday of Israel's go-ahead for a highly contested settlement project in the occupied West Bank. "Such plans, if implemented, would be contrary to international law and would make a two-state solution impossible,

The Palestinian Authority says the decision is illegal and will "destroy" the prospects for a two-state solution.

Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations.

The project, located in a tract of land known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, has been under discussion for more than two decades.

Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Likud MK Boaz Bismuth said Tuesday that applying Israeli “sovereignty” in the West Bank was at least as important, and more urgent, than reaching normalization deals with neighboring countries.Bismuth,