Israel approves new parcel of West Bank land for settlement

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Friday declared 800 hectares in the occupied West Bank as state land, in a move that will facilitate the use of the ground for settlement building.

The announcement, on the day U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, underlined the government's determination to press ahead with settlement building in the West Bank, despite growing international opposition.

Palestinian authorities condemned the move.

"While there are those in Israel and in the world who seek to undermine our right to Judea and Samaria and the country in general, we promote settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country," Smotrich said, using Biblical names for the area of the West Bank that are commonly employed in Israel.