Israeli authorities are advancing plans to significantly expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite widespread international criticism and concerns that such actions will further undermine the viability of a two-state solution.
The Israeli government has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to consider the construction of thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, located east of occupied East Jerusalem. This proposed expansion would connect the large, unauthorized Ma’ale Adumim settlement with Jerusalem, effectively dividing the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities.
In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government is reportedly preparing to announce its intent to occupy all of Gaza as its ongoing military campaign continues in the besieged territory.
The E1 plan has long drawn condemnation from the international community, including the European Union and successive U.S. administrations. In 2022, Israel temporarily delayed the project under U.S. pressure, but recent developments—including road-widening initiatives and restrictions on Palestinian access—suggest a renewed effort to consolidate control over the region. Human rights organizations have interpreted these actions as indicators of a strategic push to entrench Israeli presence.
Under international law, Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered illegal. The International Court of Justice reaffirmed this stance last year, stating that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and must end “as rapidly as possible.”
Germany recently expressed strong opposition to the E1 project. A foreign ministry spokesperson stated, “We, as the federal government, strongly reject the E1 settlement project. What we are concerned about is that a two-state solution is possible in the long term.”
The E1 plan involves the expropriation of nearly 1,214 hectares (3,000 acres) of Palestinian land to construct more than 4,000 settlement units, along with hotels and roads linking Ma’ale Adumim to West Jerusalem. Palestinians view the initiative as part of broader efforts to “Jewishize” East Jerusalem and solidify Israeli control over occupied territories, which they argue violates international law.
Palestinian leaders seek the entire West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state—territories captured by Israel during the 1967 war. Currently, more than 500,000 settlers live in the West Bank, with an additional 220,000 in East Jerusalem.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim noted that the E1 plan has been in development since the early 1990s. She cited U.S. officials describing the plan as “devastating” and “disastrous,” warning that it threatens the unity of a potential Palestinian state. According to Ibrahim, the Israeli objective is to ensure that no Palestinian state exists on the ground by the time Western and European nations recognize Palestine as a state.
She added that the plan could lead to the fragmentation of the West Bank into isolated “canton” areas, pushing Palestinians into confined communities. This strategy, she said, reflects a broader effort to eliminate the possibility of a viable Palestinian state.
The expansion comes amid intensified Israeli security operations in the occupied West Bank. At least 30 Palestinians were arrested overnight across multiple cities, including Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Tulkarem. Among those detained were two women, a female journalist, and several former prisoners. Since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza in October 2023, more than 18,500 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank.
In Beit Iskaria village near Bethlehem, residents received forced displacement notices as Israeli forces moved to seize land for settlement expansion in the Gush Etzion bloc. Village council head Muhammad Atallah was ordered to vacate his family’s grapevine-covered farmland within 10 days.
Elsewhere, Israeli forces conducted demolitions in an agricultural suburb near Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah, with reports of settlers accompanying military personnel. In Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem, a building under construction was demolished by military vehicles.
According to human rights groups, 75 demolitions were recorded in the West Bank in July alone, targeting 122 structures, including 60 homes and numerous agricultural facilities.
In addition to arrests and demolitions, there has been a sharp increase in settler violence in recent months. Armed settlers, often supported by Israeli soldiers, have attacked Palestinian villages, destroyed crops, vandalized homes, and assaulted residents with impunity, resulting in several deaths.
Rights organizations and UN officials have warned that settler violence has reached record levels, part of a coordinated effort to displace Palestinians from key areas of the West Bank.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have imposed a six-month ban on Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories, preventing him from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque. The ban followed the expiration of an initial eight-day expulsion order issued after his Friday sermon, in which he criticized Israel’s starvation policy against Palestinians in Gaza.
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