Foreign Minister Penny Weng has called on the Israel government to "urgently retract" a controversial plan for an Israeli settlement on the West Bank in a joint statement with 20 other nations.

Penny Wong joined several other foreign ministers urgently calling on the Israeli government to retract its plan to build 3,400 homes in the West Bank.

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.