More than 100 international NGOs sign letter saying more than 60 requests to bring in food, water and items for shelter were denied by authorities in July alone

Israeli advocacy group Peace Now has condemned plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, the group said.

The plans, announced by Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, approve tenders for more than 3,000 housing units in the controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank.

Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government.

After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best – building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.