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E1 Bids Spark Outcry
Israel opened bids for a highly sensitive settlement project in the occupied West Bank known as E1, with the BBC saying the plan is to build about 1,200 settlement units in a strategically important area east of Jerusalem.
“Israel has opened bids to build about 1,200 settlement units”
The BBC reported that the Housing Ministry announced a bid to build 1,234 housing units out of 3,401 approved by the Israeli government in August, and that the bid deadline is October 19 ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for October 27.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the bid as an “unacceptable and destructive act,” urging Israel to “freeze E1 plans immediately, withdraw the bid, and halt all forms of settlement expansion.”
The BBC said the E1 project would effectively split the West Bank into two halves, isolating East Jerusalem, and it quoted Peace Now warning that the government is seeking to sign contracts before the elections so it becomes much harder for the next government to cancel construction.
Condemnations and Summonses
The UK and the Palestinian Authority condemned Israel’s decision to issue a tender for more than 1,200 new housing units in the occupied West Bank under Israel’s E1 settlement project, with the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission warning it would confine Palestinians to “disconnected enclaves surrounded by settlements.”
In London, the BBC reported that the British ambassador to the Foreign Office was summoned, where the UK’s deep objection to the step taken by the Netanyahu government was made clear and it was demanded to be reversed immediately.
Al Jazeera said UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called the move an “unacceptable and destructive act” and said he had told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that Israel must immediately halt the plans, withdraw the tender, and stop all settlement expansion.
Al Jazeera also reported that the Israeli chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, where the UK demanded an immediate reversal and said it would soon set out measures including sanctions against those involved in illegal settlement expansion.
Two-State Stakes and Risks
The BBC said opponents warned E1 would effectively prevent a Palestinian state by separating the northern West Bank from the southern part and by preventing the creation of a connected Palestinian urban corridor linking Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.
“Construction in E1 will undermine the possibility of ending the conflict”
The BBC quoted Peace Now saying “Construction in E1 will undermine the possibility of ending the conflict and reaching a two-state peace agreement,” and it added that even partial implementation would fundamentally change the region’s geographic and strategic character.
Al Jazeera reported that Ir Amim said even a “partial implementation would create irreversible facts on the ground, fundamentally altering the geographic and strategic character of the area – severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem.”
Al Jazeera also said Peace Now accused the “Netanyahu-Smotrich government” of “trying to bury the two-state solution” through the settlement project, warning that implementing E1 and closing the area to Palestinians threatens to disconnect dozens of Bedouin communities, including Khan al-Ahmar, and to lead to their expulsion from their land.