Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has pledged to continue expanding settlements in the West Bank, defying international pressure on Israel to stop building.
Smotrich announced the approval of a new settlement called Mishmar Yehuda, in Gush Etzion, a group of Jewish settlements located south of Jerusalem.
The expansion of the colonies ''will continue apace'', Smotrich announced.
The 'Mishmar Yehuda' project, located in the Judean Desert near the Keidar settlement, was approved by the government a year ago.
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