Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that there would be no Palestinian state, speaking at a signing ceremony for a major illegal settlement project in the occupied West Bank.
"We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us," Netanyahu said at the event in Maale Adumim, an illegal Israeli settlement near occupied East Jerusalem.
"We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security... We are going to double the city's population." The event was streamed live by his office.
Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12 square kilometre (five square mile) tract of land known as E1, but the plan had been stalled for years in the face of international opposition.
The site sits between occupied East Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, near routes connecting the north and south of the occupied Palestinian territory.
Last month, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich backed plans to build around 3,400 homes on the ultra-sensitive parcel of land.
His announcement drew condemnation, with UN chief Antonio Guterres saying the settlement would effectively cleave the occupied West Bank in two and pose an "existential threat" to a contiguous Palestinian state.
All of Israel's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission.
Several Western governments, including Britain and France, have announced they intend to recognise the State of Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly later this month.
Britain has said it will take the step if Israel fails to agree to a ceasefire in its devastating war on Gaza.
Far-right Israeli ministers have in recent months openly called for Israel's annexation of the territory.
Israeli NGO Peace Now, which monitors illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, said last week that infrastructure work in E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within about a year.
It said the E1 plan was "deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution".
Excluding occupied east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 illegal Israeli settlers.
