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E1 Tenders Advance
Israel advanced new settlement construction in the occupied West Bank through the E1 settlement project, with Spain condemning Israel’s decision to issue a call for tenders to build more than 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area.
“breaks the territorial continuity of Palestine and separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank”
Spain’s Foreign Ministry said the decision “breaks the territorial continuity of Palestine and separates East Jerusalem from the West Bank,” and Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares urged Israel to reverse course on US social media platform X.
A joint statement on Thursday from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway described Israel’s opening of construction tenders for more than 1,200 housing units under the E1 project as “unacceptable” and in violation of “the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories”.
Al Jazeera reported that Israel opened tenders for the construction of 1,234 Israeli homes in the occupied West Bank, advancing an illegal settlement expansion that rights groups say would sever Palestinian territory in two.
The E1 plan is described as creating a continuous Israeli settlement “corridor” between occupied East Jerusalem and the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, 7km (4.5 miles) east of Jerusalem, and the latest tender covers 1,234 homes.
Condemnations and Quotes
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the joint statement and called for an immediate reversal of Israel’s E1 settlement plan and an end to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Abbas described the E1 plan as representing a highly dangerous step in settlement expansion and annexation, while the joint statement warned of “legal and reputational consequences” for participants and urged Israel “to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank”.
The UN secretary-general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed by the reports of new illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank,” including the new tenders.
In a separate condemnation, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on X that “Israel must reverse its decision and advance in the implementation of the two-State solution,” linking the settlement push to the prospects for peace.
Al Jazeera also quoted Palestinian human rights advocate Ubai al-Aboudi warning that the project would put a “final nail in the coffin of the two-state solution” and “make the establishment of a Palestinian state impossible”.
What’s at Stake Next
The E1 project is described as slated to include at least 3,400 units and as connecting occupied East Jerusalem to the Maale Adumim settlement area on roughly 12 square kilometres (4.6 square miles) of Palestinian land.
“would bisect the West Bank from north to south”
Al Jazeera reported that the project would bisect the West Bank from north to south, cutting off the West Bank’s link to East Jerusalem, and would further disrupt Palestinian movement between the northern and southern West Bank.
The joint statement from European and other governments warned that the E1 tenders would undermine the two-state solution by dividing the West Bank and severing the geographic connectivity of Palestinian lands, and it urged Israel to retract the plans immediately.
Al Jazeera also said bids for the latest E1 tender close on October 19, eight days before Israeli elections scheduled for October 27, as analysts linked the scramble for settlements to the upcoming vote.
In letters to the United Nations and the Security Council, Riyad Mansour urged urgent steps to stop the Israeli settlement plans in the area named “E1,” and the Palestinian delegate said the plan is illegal and would lead to reconfiguring the region and demographic changes that threaten the continuity and integrity of Palestinian land.