Israel has opened the door to bids to build about 1,200 settlement units in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank, at a time when the Israeli government seeks to end any chance of establishing a Palestinian state.
Plans to build in the area known as E1, located east of Jerusalem, have met with international condemnation, while the settlements are illegal under international law.
This development would effectively divide the West Bank into two halves, with East Jerusalem isolated.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the tender, calling it “an unacceptable and destructive act,” and called on Israel to “immediately halt E1 plans, withdraw the tender, and halt all forms of settlement expansion.”
Israel has built about 160 settlements inhabited by 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands that the Palestinians want, along with Gaza, to establish a desired future state - during the 1967 war. The number of Palestinians living alongside these settlers is estimated at about 3.3 million people.
Despite intense international opposition, successive Israeli governments have allowed settlements to grow.
However, settlement expansion has increased sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022 at the head of a right-wing, pro-settler coalition, as well as since the outbreak of the Gaza War that followed the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Under international pressure, Israel has refrained for decades from implementing construction plans in the E1 area.
Many of its allies, along with the Palestinians, believed that these plans would deal a major blow to hopes of reaching a two-state solution, as they would effectively divide the West Bank into two parts.
But the current Israeli government gave the green light a year ago for construction in E1, with the stated aim of “erase” the idea of a Palestinian state.
Despite a legal challenge in Israel filed by Palestinian Bedouins living in the area, along with Israeli peace groups, against these plans, the Housing Ministry issued a bid to build 1,234 housing units out of 3,401 units approved by the Israeli government last August.
The project includes an area of approximately 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) between East Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement.
When these plans were revealed, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme nationalist and settler, said the idea of a Palestinian state was being “erased.”
The deadline for submitting bids is October 19, just days before Israel's general elections scheduled for October 27, which will make canceling any bids awarded before that much more difficult for any future government.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said in a statement published on Wednesday evening: “Britain will not stand idly by and accept the destruction of the two-state solution.”
Miliband added: “The United Kingdom has been clear, both publicly and in its private communications, in its opposition to the E1 project and its support for the two-state solution,” adding: “All settlements undermine this path and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.”
Miliband said that the Israeli Chargé d'Affairs was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where "the United Kingdom's deep objection to this step taken by the Netanyahu government was made clear, and the demand was to reverse it immediately."
The British minister added that "in the coming weeks," the British government will announce "a comprehensive package of measures to respond to the policies of the Israeli government, protect the foundations of the establishment of a Palestinian state, impose sanctions targeting those participating in illegal settlement expansion, and support a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians."
Israel occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan during the 1967 war. It annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 in a move that is not recognized by the vast majority of the international community.
Opponents of the E1 project warned that it would effectively prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, because it would isolate the north of the West Bank from its south, and prevent the establishment of a continuous Palestinian urban area in the center of the West Bank linking Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.
“The government is trying to sign contracts with contractors before the elections so that it will become much more difficult for the next government to cancel construction work,” said Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog that has challenged the plans in court.
She added that even partial implementation of the construction plans would “fundamentally change the geographic and strategic character of the area by separating the northern West Bank from its southern part and isolating East Jerusalem.”
