An Israeli planning committee on Wednesday gave final approval to a controversial plan allowing new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The plan calls for development in an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, known as E1. Israel's government would build nearly 3,500 new apartments to enlarge the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, which lies next to E1.

"I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighborhood," the mayor of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement.

West Bank settlements complicate peace process 

Plans for new Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been widely condemned and are considered illegal under international law. The UN and Palestinian rights groups have warned that the plan would essentially divide the Palestinian territory and make any two-state solution untenable.

The plans apply to an area of only 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles). Due to its location, however, the expansion would make it impossible to ever create a contiguous Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Ir Amim organization, which opposes Israel's expansion of West Bank settlements, told DW last week that the plan would make a Palestinian state "not possible."

"It breaks up the West Bank into a northern part and the southern part," he said.

Speaking during a visit to Indonesia, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Wednesday that "such plans, if implemented, would be contrary to international law and would make a two-state solution impossible." 

Last week, the German Foreign Ministry called on the Israeli government to "stop settlement construction," adding that Germany would "only recognize changes to the borders of June 4, 1967, that have been agreed upon by the parties to the conflict." 

"The settlement construction violates international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions," the spokesperson added. "It complicates a negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, as demanded by the International Court of Justice."

Israel far-right backs settlement plan

Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who announced the plan last week, said Wednesday the approval was "historic," and framed it as a rebuke of Western countries like France and the UK, who recently announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state  in September.

"The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions," Smotrich said on Wednesday. 

Smotrich's office had previously said in a statement that the settlements were "burying the idea of a Palestinian state."

Israel has criticized countries pledging to recognize a Palestinian state, calling such recognition a "reward for Hamas" following the October 7, 2023, terror attacks.