The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada have condemned Israel's advancement of plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli housing ministry issued a tender for 1,234 housing units on Wednesday, part of a larger approval for 3,401 units greenlit by the government last August. This development is situated in the strategically sensitive E1 area, located between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim.
The tender deadline is set for October 19, just days before Israel's general election on October 27. This timing makes it significantly more challenging for any subsequent government to reverse these decisions.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist who supports the settlement movement, had previously stated that the idea of a Palestinian state was being "erased" in relation to the E1 project. Critics warn that the expansion in E1 would effectively fragment Palestinian territories, severing the connection between the northern and southern West Bank and hindering the development of a contiguous Palestinian urban area linking Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.
Israel has constructed approximately 160 settlements since its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. These settlements house around 700,000 Jewish Israelis, while an estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live in the same territory, which Palestinians envision as part of a future state.
Despite considerable international opposition, successive Israeli governments have permitted the growth of these settlements. However, the pace of expansion has notably increased since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 with a right-wing, pro-settler coalition, and particularly since the commencement of the Gaza war following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
An Israeli court challenge to the E1 plans was initiated by Bedouin Palestinians residing in the area, alongside Israeli peace groups. Nevertheless, the housing ministry proceeded with issuing the tender.