MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank/TEL AVIV, (Reuters) -Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem,

"The plan is the 'final nail in the coffin' for the concept of a Palestinian state," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich remarked. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved the new E1 settlement plan near Ma’aleh Adumim,

Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said on Thursday that a plan to significantly expand a settlement near occupied East Jerusalem had won approval. But a procedural step remained.