Israel moves forward with internationally condemned settlement plan that could ‘bury’ two-state solution

Israel Opens Bidding for 1,200-Unit E1 Settlement Block, Drawing Sharp International Condemnation

Healfromzero.com – Israel’s Housing Ministry has published a tender inviting contractors to build more than 1,200 residential units in the E1 corridor, a narrow strip of land running between East Jerusalem and the northern West Bank. The announcement, released in August 2026, lands just one week before Israeli parliamentary elections scheduled for late October, and it has immediately triggered a wave of diplomatic protest from Western capitals, Arab governments, and Palestinian authorities. Critics argue the project would sever the West Bank into two disconnected halves, rendering a geographically viable Palestinian state unachievable and effectively ending decades of negotiation over a two-state arrangement.

A Strategic Corridor with Decades-Long Consequences

E1 occupies a geographically critical position. It sits along the eastern edge of Jerusalem, directly linking the city’s existing settlement neighborhoods to the larger West Bank settlement blocs to the north. If developed as planned, the new housing units would create an unbroken ribbon of Israeli-controlled territory stretching from East Jerusalem westward into the occupied West Bank. The practical effect would be to bisect the West Bank into a northern segment and a southern segment, with no continuous Palestinian-controlled land connecting the two. East Jerusalem — widely regarded by Palestinians and much of the international community as the future capital of a Palestinian state — would also be physically severed from the remainder of the territory.

For years, successive Israeli governments deliberately withheld planning permits and construction approvals in E1, citing intense diplomatic pressure and the risk of alienating Western partners. The current administration under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reversed that restraint, fast-tracking settlement approvals across the West Bank even as allied nations have imposed targeted sanctions on individuals connected to the settler movement. The timing of the bid — days before a national election — has drawn particular scrutiny.

“This is a last-minute maneuver that is part of the scorched-earth policy the government is pursuing at the end of its term to secure long years of conflict and bloodshed for Israel,” said Peace Now, an Israeli settlement-monitoring organization, in a statement issued Tuesday.

Western Powers Renew Warnings and Threaten Measures

The international reaction was swift and unified. In May, a coalition of Western governments — including Canada, Australia, and Germany — issued a formal advisory urging companies to avoid participating in West Bank settlement construction, including any work in E1, warning of “legal and reputational consequences” for firms involved. On Thursday, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement reinforcing that caution.

“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 four leaders wrote.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Milliband went further, labeling the advance of the E1 plans an “unacceptable and destructive act” and warning that Britain would not simply accept the erosion of the two-state framework.

“Britain will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution,” Milliband said in a written statement.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded on the social platform X, pushing back against what he characterized as outside interference in Israel’s domestic geography.

“It is absurd for Britain to lecture the Jewish people about where they may live in their historic tiny homeland,” Saar wrote Thursday.

Palestinian and Regional Voices Demand a Halt

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, described the decision to proceed with E1 construction as “extremely dangerous, irresponsible, and threatening.” Speaking in an interview, he added emphatically:

“This has to be stopped.”

The Egyptian government issued its own formal statement condemning the tenders and calling on the broader international community to intervene.

“Egypt expresses its complete rejection of attempts to entrench a policy of fait accompli through the illegal expansion of settlements and the change of the legal status and demographic makeup of occupied Palestinian territory, which undermines the chances of implementing the two-state solution,” the statement read.

Legal Status and the Broader Settlement Landscape

All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are regarded as illegal under international law by the vast majority of the international community and by United Nations resolutions. Yet over recent years, settlers have established dozens of unauthorized outposts — often beginning as temporary structures — and subsequently secured formal Israeli government ratification, converting de facto occupation into de jure policy. The E1 project represents the most consequential single settlement decision in years precisely because of its geographic position: unlike peripheral outposts, E1 would alter the fundamental shape of any future Palestinian territory.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has long championed settlement expansion, framed last year’s final approval of the E1 plan in explicitly finalist terms.

“The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions,” Smotrich said.

With elections approaching and the bid deadline set to expire within days, the coming weeks will determine whether contractors submit proposals and whether Western governments move from diplomatic protest to concrete economic or legal countermeasures. For Palestinians and their international supporters, the answer is already clear: the corridor must remain unbuilt, or the two-state vision dies with it.