Israel clears final hurdle to start settlement construction in West Bank

View of an area near Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement project. Picture: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a controversial settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank into two, according to a government tender.

The tender, seeking bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project.