Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday said his country would annex the occupied West Bank if the international community officially recognizes the state of Palestine next month.

Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, said on Thursday that a plan to significantly expand a settlement near occupied East Jerusalem had won approval. But a procedural step remained.

By Alexander Cornwell MAALE ADUMIM, West Bank/TEL AVIV, (Reuters) -Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut if off from East Jerusalem,