Israel said Thursday it was moving forward with controversial plans to build thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank, a development far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would “permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state.

Israel's far-right finance minister announced approval of the construction of a contentious settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that he says "buries the idea of a Palestinian state."

France has condemned Israel’s plan to build 3,400 new homes in the occupied West Bank, calling the project a “serious violation of international law” that risks destroying any chance of a contiguous Palestinian state.