Location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographical links between Bethlehem and Ramallah.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution,' says Foreign Secretary David Lammy - Anadolu A