Israel has opened tenders for the construction of approximately 1,200 settlement homes in a strategically significant area of the occupied West Bank, in a move aimed at eliminating the possibility of a Palestinian state. The plans to build in the so-called E1 area, east of Jerusalem, have faced long-standing international condemnation. The development would effectively divide the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem. The deadline for bids is just days before Israel's general election in October, making it significantly harder for any future government to reverse tenders that have been issued. Settlements are considered illegal under international law.
Israel has constructed around 160 settlements, housing 700,000 Jews, since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek this land, along with Gaza, for a future state. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside these settlements. Despite strong international opposition, successive Israeli governments have permitted settlements to expand. However, expansion has accelerated significantly since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, leading a right-wing, pro-settler coalition, and since the start of the Gaza war following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Under international pressure, Israel had refrained from building in E1 for decades. Many allies and Palestinians argued that such construction would severely damage hopes for a two-state solution by bisecting the West Bank. However, the current Israeli government approved E1 construction a year ago, explicitly stating its aim to "erase" the concept of a Palestinian state. Despite a legal challenge to the plans by Bedouin Palestinians residing in the area and Israeli peace groups, the housing ministry has now issued a tender for 1,234 of the 3,401 housing units approved by the government last August. This project covers approximately 12 sq km (4.6 sq miles) between East Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement.
At the time of the initial approval, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist and pro-settler, stated that the idea of a Palestinian state was "being erased." The deadline for bids is October 19, just days before the general election on October 27. This timing is intended to allow the government to sign contracts with developers, which would be much more difficult for a subsequent government to cancel.
Opponents of the E1 project have warned that it would effectively prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by cutting off the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem, thereby hindering the development of a contiguous Palestinian urban area connecting Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog that has challenged the plans in court, stated, "The government is trying to sign contracts with contractors before the elections so that it will be much harder for the next government to cancel the construction." The group added that even partial implementation of the construction plans would "fundamentally" alter "the geographic and strategic character of the area by severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem." "Building in E1 will ruin the possibility of reaching an end to the conflict and a peace arrangement based on two states," it concluded.
Jamal Juma, a Palestinian activist with the Stop the Wall campaign, who lives in Jerusalem, told the BBC that the project would have a devastating impact on Palestinians. "It is destruction of the communities, it's destruction of families... this is a disaster," he said, adding that more than 40 Bedouin communities would be affected and forced to relocate.
