In a move that has drawn a fresh wave of international condemnation, Israel has granted final approval for a massive and long-stalled settlement project in the occupied West Bank that critics say is designed to extinguish any remaining hope for a viable Palestinian state. The plan, known as the E1 project, will see the construction of approximately 3,500 new housing units in a strategic and highly sensitive area, effectively severing the last territorial link between the northern and southern parts of the West Bank.
The controversial project has been on the drawing board for more than two decades but was repeatedly frozen due to intense pressure from previous U.S. administrations and European allies. Its approval now, amid the ongoing war in Gaza and escalating violence in the West Bank, is being seen by many as a direct challenge to the international community’s push for a two-state solution.
The E1 project, which will expand the existing settlement of Maale Adumim, is located in an open tract of land east of Jerusalem. For Palestinians, the land is a vital corridor, the only remaining route for a future Palestinian state to connect the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem. If completed, the new settlement would create a continuous bloc of Israeli territory, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader who has been given Cabinet-level authority over settlement policy, framed the move as a victory. “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” he said in a statement. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
The international community’s reaction has been swift and scathing. Britain, France, and Qatar were among the many nations to condemn the approval as a “flagrant breach of international law.” The United Nations has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long conflict. Rights groups, including Israel’s Peace Now, have called the E1 project a “deadly” step that has “no purpose other than to sabotage a political solution” and will only lead to “many more years of bloodshed.”
For Palestinians, the approval is a new and painful reality on the ground. The Israeli military has intensified its operations in the West Bank, and there has been a marked increase in attacks by settlers on Palestinian communities. The E1 project, with infrastructure work set to begin within months and construction within a year, is a physical manifestation of a political agenda that Palestinians and their supporters say is designed to annex the territory.
As the international community grapples with the fallout from the decision, the fate of the two-state solution hangs in the balance. For now, the approval of the E1 settlement project appears to be the latest step in a deliberate and unwavering effort to make a peaceful and lasting resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a distant and unattainable dream.