Israel faced growing international criticism for advancing a settlement plan in the controversial E1 area of the occupied West Bank earlier this week, which could split the territory and “bury” the possibility of a two-state solution.
According to the Times of Israel, both supporters and opponents say the move could mark the death knell for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state by bisecting the West Bank and further preventing contiguity.
The two-state solution refers to a plan to create aseparate from the state of Israel to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
What is Israel’s ‘E1’ settlement plan?
Israel’s Housing Ministry issued a notice inviting bids for the construction of seven residential compounds with 1,234 housing units in which aims to create a continuous bloc of Jewish settlements from East Jerusalem to the West Bank, CNN reported.
Those units are among the roughly 3,400 E1 housing units that the government greenlit in August 2025. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich lauded the E1 expansion plan at the time, saying it “practically erases the two-state delusion.
The settlement plan would reportedly carve up land in the West Bank that the Palestinians seek for a state. It would divide the West Bank into north and south, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible, while splitting East Jerusalem – viewed as the capital of such a state – from the rest of the territory.
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel claimed, “The project would link Jerusalem and the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim while disrupting Palestinian territorial contiguity between Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah.”
The bids for construction are due one week before the at the end of October.
The project was frozen for long years amid fierce opposition from the international community, including past US administrations, which feared that building a new settlement neighbourhood on the mostly empty tract of land would rule out a viable Palestinian state.
US, Europe, UAE, other countries condemn Israel’s plan
The Trump administration reemphasised on Friday its opposition to Israel annexing the West Bank, but intentionally avoided condemning Jerusalem’s planned building of settlements in the E1 area.
Asked for comment on the project, the regurgitated a statement it has previously used regarding Israeli policy in the West Bank, without mentioning E1 at all.
“As the president has clearly stated, the US does not support Israel annexing the West Bank. A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” a statement attributed to a State Department spokesperson read.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote Friday in a post on X, “The Israeli Government’s decision to publish construction tenders for the E1 settlement project is unacceptable…We have long opposed this step.”
France, Germany, Britain and Italy had already condemned the Israeli project that “jeopardizes the prospect for a An Israeli television channel reported Thursday that the European Union was preparing a package of sanctions if Israel breaks ground on the new settlement units, the Times of Israel reported.
“Our message is clear: There must be no further steps toward annexation in the West Bank,” said Sebastian Hille, spokesman for the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“No formal ones, but also no political, structural, or other measures whose impact is increasingly and obviously leading toward annexation. They run counter to a two-state solution,” Hille added.
In a on Thursday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Norway, Canada and the Netherlands reiterated that warning, saying, “At a time of grave instability in the West Bank with unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians, and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy, this decision is even more concerning.”
The European Commission, Greece, Austria, Spain, Australian, New Zealand and Sweden all signed onto the statement on Friday.
Foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also denounced Israel’s E1 plan. They issued a joint statement Friday condemning the project as a “dangerous escalation” that further advances settlement expansion and annexation of Palestinian lands.
“The ministers call for immediate action to halt the ‘E1’ settlement plan, rescind all measures taken in connection with it, and cease all settlement activities and other measures aimed at altering the geographic and demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territory,” the ministers said.
