Israel approves controversial E1 settlement plans in West Bank

Israel granted final approval to a controversial settlement project that would actually cut the occupied West Bank from East Jerusalem and divide the region into two parts.

The construction was frozen in the E1 area for two decades amid fierce international opposition. Critics warn that it will put an end to hopes in a viable Palestinian state.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Defense Committee approved the plans of 3400 homes in E1. The right -wing finance minister, Bizalil Soutrich, who revealed them last week, said that the idea of being a Palestinian state was “erased.”

The Palestinian Authority condemned the move, saying it was illegal and would “destroy” the possibilities of a two -state solution.

This is followed by advertisements through an increasing number of their countries in its intention to recognize a Palestinian state, which Israel denounced.

Israel has built about 160 settlements of 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – the Palestinians want lands, along with Gaza, for a vibrant future state – during the Middle East war in 1967. It is estimated at 3.3 million Palestinians living alongside them.

The settlements are illegal under international law – a position supported by an advisory opinion in the International Court of Justice last year – although Israel opposes this.

Successive Israeli governments allowed settlements to grow. However, the expansion has risen sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the head of a right -wing coalition of the settler, as well as the beginning of the Gaza war, which was caused by the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 on Israel.

The plans of 3,401 housing units were approved in E1 – which covers about 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) between East Jerusalem and the level of Maale Adumim – by the Higher Planning Council in the Civil Administration.

The Ministry of Defense Authority also agreed to 342 units in the new settlement of ASAEL, a former site in the southern West Bank that was built without government permission but was legally established under Israeli law in May.

“The Palestinian state is erased from the table, not with slogans, but with the procedures,” said Sottic, the extremist leader and the settler who supervises the civil administration.

“Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”

Netanyahu also urged the official “completion of this step” and the West Bank attachment.

East Jerusalem was effectively included in 1980, in a move that was not recognized by the vast majority of the international community.

The opponents of the E1 project warned that it will prevent the establishment of an effective Palestinian state because it will cut off the northern West Bank from the south, and prevent development in the center of a adjacent Palestinian urban area linking Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Bethim.

The Israeli -anti -settlement -anti -settlement peace now has warned: “Under the cover of the war, Sottic and a Christian minority build a settlement condemned to evacuate in any agreement. The only goal of E1 is to sabotage a political solution and rush towards a bilateral predator.”

The Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the West Bank that is not subject to complete Israeli control, condemned the approval of E1 plans.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Palestinian Authority: “This Jerusalem plan will be isolated from its Palestinian surroundings, and it is overwhelmed in massive settlement blocks” and part of the West Bank “in separate pockets that resemble an outdoor prison.”

He also claimed that approval was a “official Israeli participation in the crimes of settlement, annexation, genocide and forced displacement” – the accusations that Israel has long rejected.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority appealed to “real international action, including sanctions, to force Israel to stop its colonial plans (…) and respect the international consensus to solve the Palestinian question.”

UK Foreign Minister David Lami said that if E1 plans, if they are implemented, “will be divided into a Palestinian state in two parts, celebrating a strict violation of international law and undermining the two -state solution in a critical manner.”

“The Israeli government must reflect this decision,” he added.

King Abdullah II from Jordan also rejected E1 plans, saying: “The two -state solution is the only way to achieve a just and comprehensive peace.”

A spokesman for the German government said that the settlement building violated international law and “impedes a negotiating solution from the two countries and ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.”

There was no immediate comment from the United States.

However, when the Israeli Army Radio was asked on Monday about the Trump administration’s position in E1, Ambassador Mike Hackabi said: “Whether there should be a tremendous development in E1 is a decision to take the government of Israel. So we will not try to evaluate good or badly.”

“As a rule, it is not a violation of international law. Also, we all have to realize that the Israelis have the right to live in Israel.”

The consultative opinion in July 2024 from the International Court of Justice said that the continuous “Israel’s presence” in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal “and that the country was” in obliging to end its illegal existence … as soon as possible. “

The Israeli Prime Minister said at that time that the court had taken a “decision of lies” and insisted that “the Jewish people are not occupied in their lands.”