Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that "there will be no Palestinian state."

Netanyahu made the remarks during a visit to the Maale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank.

He formally signed a proposal that will see thousands of new homes built nearby as part of controversial plans to expand West Bank settlements.

"We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu said.

"We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security," the Israeli prime minister added during the event, which was livestreamed by his office.

What do we know about the E1 settlement project?

The project will see around 3,400 new homes built on a tract of land known as E1 that is roughly 12 square kilometers (five square miles) in size.

It will cut through the occupied West Bank, isolating it from East Jerusalem.

Palestinians view East Jerusalem as the capital of a potential future state. The principle is central to the two-state solution, which the majority of the international community supports.

The project was approved last month by Israel's right-wing government

Several Western governments, including Germany, have condemned the plans.

The project had been stalled for years amid strong opposition from the international community.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, are illegal under international law.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse