Palestinians and rights groups said the settlement would effectively cut the West Bank into two separate parts and rob them of any chance to build a Palestinian state.

STORY: Israeli far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday announced work would start on a planned Jewish settlement in a key spot in the occupied West Bank.And he said the move had a clear goal:Smotrich said it "definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state,

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said the country would annex the occupied West Bank if the international community officially recognizes the state of Palestine next month.