Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to build over 3,000 homes in the long-stalled E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Smotrich said it will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” because “there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise.

The so-called E1 project had been frozen for decades due to pressure from the international community, as many feared the plans would hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state, which proponents of the two-state solution deem necessary to bring peace to the region.

Construction in E1 is great news for Jerusalem. We are taking responsibility for our future. The world may oppose it now - but will recognize it later.