Amnesty International says Israel's E1 Settlement 'flagrant violation' of international law

Amnesty International has condemned Israel's plan to build a sprawling new settlement in the occupied West Bank as a flagrant violation of international law. 

"The Israeli civil administration’s approval of the E1 settlement plan to build some 3400 housing units between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and a dangerous step towards formal annexation," Amnesty said in a statement on Thursday. 

The statement added that the settlement would deepen occupied East Jerusalem's isolation from the West Bank and effectively divide the West Bank in two, "further entrenching Israel’s unlawful occupation and apartheid system."