TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state.

The long-stalled project near Jerusalem, known as E1, further fragments lands envisioned as a Palestinian state, advancing a goal of Israeli hard-liners.

But a crucial roadblock — discouragement from the United States — was lifted last week when Ambassador Mike Huckabee said the United States would not oppose E1. Huckabee is a longtime support of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.