Israel Advances Controversial West Bank Settlement Plan Despite Severe International Condemnation

The Israeli government has advanced an internationally condemned settlement plan in the occupied West Bank that threatens to divide the territory and undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

Israel’s Housing Ministry issued a notice inviting bids for the construction of more than 1,200 housing units in E1 near Jerusalem. The project aims to create a continuous bloc of Jewish settlements stretching from East Jerusalem to the West Bank, which would split the West Bank into northern and southern sections and make a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.

The construction bids are due a week before the Israeli elections at the end of October. Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, criticized the move in a statement on Tuesday as a last-minute maneuver and part of a scorched-earth policy.

Although Israel previously delayed planning and construction in E1 due to heavy international criticism, the current government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accelerated West Bank settlements. In May, Western nations including Canada, Australia, and Germany warned companies against participating in the construction. Leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands reiterated these warnings in a joint statement, citing grave instability and unprecedented violence by settlers against civilians.

Following final approval of the E1 plan last year, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that the Palestinian state was being erased. UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the decision as an unacceptable act, warning that Britain would not accept the destruction of the two-state solution. In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar defended the policy on X.

While most of the international community and the United Nations view all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as illegal under international law, settlers have continued to establish unauthorized outposts that frequently receive government approval. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, and the Egyptian government both strongly condemned the new tenders, calling on the international community to halt the expansion.