Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs an agreement to push ahead with the controversial E1 settlement expansion plan that will cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.

Axar.az reports, citing Times of Israel, “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us,” Netanyahu says during a visit to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank, where thousands of new housing units would be added.

“We will safeguard our heritage, our land and our security… We are going to double the city’s population.” The event was streamed live by his office.

Last month, the E1 project, which would bisect the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, received final planning approval. Today’s signing ceremony is largely symbolic but allows authorities to move forward with construction.