Standing at the site of the planned settlement in Maale Adumim on Thursday, Smotrich, a settler himself, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed to the revival of the E1 development, though there was no immediate confirmation from either.

There's hope that Australia's move to recognise a Palestinian state next month will bring change to a region marked by conflict.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday that his country will recognize a Palestinian state in September, joining a growing list of Western allies as international condemnation and anger builds over Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Australia will recognize a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signaling they would do so.

The largely symbolic move has more to do with politics than supporting Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

France, Britain and Canada plan to recognize Palestinian statehood during the Gaza war, but Israeli experts warn the move could reward terrorism and complicate peace efforts.

Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at next month's United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

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

Israel's far-right national security minister visited prominent Palestinian Marwan Barghouti in jail and told him "you will not win", a video showed on Friday, a day after another hardline cabinet member vowed to "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state.