Israel advances E1 settlement plan despite global condemnation

JERUSALEM, Palestine (MNTV) — Israel has advanced a deeply controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank, opening tenders for 1,234 housing units in the strategically located E1 area east of Jerusalem. 

The move comes despite widespread international condemnation and warnings that the project could destroy the territorial basis for a future Palestinian state.

The tender covers seven residential compounds between Jerusalem and the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. 

The E1 project has long been one of Israel’s most contentious settlement schemes because construction there would sever the geographic continuity between northern and southern parts of the occupied West Bank while further isolating occupied East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities.

Israel’s latest move brings the project closer to construction after years of international pressure and repeated delays. 

The broader plan includes about 3,400 housing units, while Israel has already moved to establish hundreds of thousands of settlers across the occupied West Bank in defiance of widespread international opposition, and in contrary to international law. 

Nearly all countries and UN bodies consider Israeli settlements in territory occupied since 1967 illegal under international law.

The E1 scheme has also been openly promoted by members of Israel’s far-right government as a means of obstructing Palestinian statehood. 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich previously described the project as a way to effectively bury the prospect of a two-state solution, making clear that settlement expansion is being used not merely as housing policy but as a tool to reshape the territory’s political future.

Condemnations following the settlement plan

The Arab League strongly condemned Israel’s latest step, with Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy warning that the project would divide Palestinian territory and further separate East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings.

Fahmy urged the UN Security Council to take decisive action against Israel’s continuing settlement expansion and cited Security Council Resolution 2334, which declares Israeli settlements in territory occupied since 1967 to have no legal validity. 

He accused Israel of repeatedly disregarding international law and warned that the absence of meaningful international consequences was encouraging further expansion.

Egypt also condemned the E1 project, saying it would destroy the territorial contiguity needed for an independent and viable Palestinian state. 

Cairo described the plan as a blatant violation of international law and called on the international community to take concrete measures to stop Israel from changing the character and demographic composition of occupied Palestinian territory.

Jordan likewise condemned the tender for 1,234 settlement units, calling the project a flagrant breach of international law and international humanitarian law. 

Amman warned that Israel’s continued settlement drive was entrenching the occupation and undermining internationally backed efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Britain responded by summoning Israel’s chargé d’affaires and demanding that the government immediately halt the E1 project and withdraw the tender. 

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband described the move as an “unacceptable and destructive act,” warning that construction in E1 could cut through the heart of Palestinian territory and endanger the viability of a two-state solution. 

London has also indicated that it is preparing targeted sanctions against people involved in illegal settlement expansion.

France, Germany and Italy joined Britain in condemning the Israeli decision. The four governments said publishing the tenders was unacceptable, particularly amid worsening violence by Israeli settlers and severe restrictions on the Palestinian economy. 

They called on Israel to withdraw the plans and stop expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The condemnation extends beyond the countries that issued the latest joint statement. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands had already joined Britain, France, Germany and Italy in May in warning Israel against settlement expansion and specifically identifying the E1 development as a serious breach of international law. 

The nine governments warned that the project would divide the West Bank and undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

Israel’s settlement drive has therefore produced an unusually broad international backlash, with Arab states, European governments and other Western countries warning that the policy is transforming the occupied territory while systematically eroding the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state.

Human Rights Watch has also described the latest E1 tender as an illegal settlement development and highlighted the wider displacement and settler violence affecting Palestinians in the West Bank. 

The rights group said the tender advances a project that would further entrench Israeli control over occupied Palestinian land.

Despite the mounting condemnation, Israel’s government continues to press ahead with settlement expansion. 

The latest E1 tender underscores the growing gap between international declarations opposing the occupation and Israel’s increasingly aggressive efforts to establish irreversible territorial facts on the ground.