Neftali Bennet has relaunched the project which will see the construction of more than 3,412 settlers units and more alarmingly split the occupied West Bank in two, the north and the south.

The E1 project revolves around construction of settlers units for Israeli squatters at an unbuilt area of the occupied territories. Bennet is known to be a strong advocate for expanding settlement activities vigorously in the West Bank.

Palestinians official have slammed the move saying Bennet is worse than former PM Netanyahu Netanyahu, who also tried to push forward with the same settlement project. However, it was halted under pressure from the international community and rights groups.

Bennet’s move is likely to be met with a similar response from international rights organizations. The project was first proposed over three decades ago by former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, but has remained frozen. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. This comes as Israeli has recently stepped up demolition of Palestinian homes again without any condemnation from its top ally the United States.