US Edition
Israel approves settlement project that could divide West Bank
The E1 project includes 3,400 new homes and aims to expand settlements, potentially dividing the West Bank and complicating prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state, officials said.
- On Wednesday, Israeli authorities granted final approval for a large-scale settlement plan to build approximately 3,500 homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, located in the occupied West Bank.
- The plan follows long-standing Israeli ambitions to develop E1, a sensitive tract that critics say would divide the West Bank and isolate East Jerusalem.
- Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, known for his settler advocacy and cabinet role, characterized the approval of new settlements as a deliberate strategy to undermine efforts by Western nations to recognize Palestinian statehood.
- Since October 2023, violence in the West Bank has resulted in the deaths of at least 971 Palestinians, according to health ministry data, with casualties including militants; during the same timeframe, 36 Israelis, among them security personnel, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or Israeli military actions.
- The Palestinian Authority and international officials warn that the project threatens the two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territories and undermining future state viability.
195 Articles
195 Articles
UK condemns Israel's controversial E1 settlement plan in occupied West Bank
'If implemented, it would divide a Palestinian state in two, mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution,' says Foreign Secretary David Lammy - Anadolu Ajansı
Israel approves major E1 settlement project in West Bank
Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) parcel known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years amid international opposition. Critics say the settlement would effectively cut t…
Channel News Asia
Israel approves major West Bank settlement project
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that with this project, Israel is finally delivering on the promise of a Palestinian state "being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions".
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