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E1 Tender Advances
Israel’s Housing Ministry issued a tender for construction of about 1,200 housing units in the contested West Bank E1 area, a strategically contested zone between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement, with a deadline for bids set just days before Israel’s October 27 elections.
“issued a tender for the construction of about 1,200 housing units in E1”
WAFA reported that Israeli occupation authorities issued a tender for 1,234 settlement units in the southern part of the E1 plan east of occupied Jerusalem, with tender No. 186/2026 and an October 19, 2026 deadline for submitting bids.
WAFA said the tender covers seven settlement complexes and is based on approved detailed plan No. 420/4/7, alongside plan No. 420/4/10, and that Tuesday’s tender marks a shift from approval and planning toward land marketing and practical implementation.
Al Jazeera said the Palestinian Authority condemned the tender for more than 1,200 new housing units under the E1 settlement project, warning that advancing the plans would lead to confining Palestinians in “disconnected enclaves surrounded by settlements.”
Condemnations and Quotes
The BBC framed the move as opening up bids for “some 1,200 settlement homes” in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank, saying the deadline for bids is days before Israel’s October general election and that settlements are illegal under international law.
Jamal Juma, a Palestinian activist for the Stop the Wall campaign who lives in Jerusalem, told the BBC that the project would have a devastating impact on Palestinians, saying, “It is destruction of the communities, it's destruction of families... this is a disaster”.
In a separate statement, the UN secretary general’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General was “deeply alarmed” by the new tenders, warning that the E1 plan would “de facto sever the connection between the north and the south” of the Palestinian territory.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Hizma in the West Bank, said the E1 project, if realised, would be the “last nail in the coffin” of the two-state solution, adding that “now we see it happening on the ground.”
What’s at Stake Next
WAFA said the E1 plan covers approximately 12,000 dunams between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim and comprises interconnected residential, industrial and tourism plans, as well as roads and infrastructure networks, with plan 420/4/7 targeting the southern section and plan 420/4/10 targeting its eastern section.
“E1 plan covers approximately 12,000 dunams between Jerusalem and Ma'ale Adumim”
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said the project would create a continuous settlement extension from Jerusalem eastward toward Ma'ale Adumim, further isolating occupied East Jerusalem from the West Bank and undermining its potential to serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Al Jazeera said the CRRC warned that the tender for the 1,200 units should be viewed as a step in a broader geopolitical project aimed at reshaping the area between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, and it quoted the CRRC’s warning that it would confine Palestinians in “disconnected enclaves surrounded by settlements.”
The BBC reported that Peace Now said even partial implementation would “fundamentally” alter the “geographic and strategic character” of the area by severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem, while the UN’s Secretary-General’s spokesperson said the Secretary-General calls on Israel to refrain from taking any further steps in this regard.