Israel Pushes Ahead with Settlement Plan to Split Occupied West Bank – World news

The higher planning committee of the civil administration, an arm of Israel’s war ministry, granted final approval for the so-called E1 project. The plan calls for constructing more than 3,400 settler homes between Al-Quds and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement deep inside occupied territory, according to Israeli media.

The project is designed to carve the West Bank into two disconnected areas, cutting Ramallah and Nablus in the north from Bethlehem and Hebron (Al-Khalil) in the south. It would also tighten Israel’s grip around East Al-Quds, which Palestinians insist must remain the capital of their future state.

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the decision as “historic,” declaring that it “erases the two-state delusion” and cements Israeli control. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea,” he said.

Alongside the E1 project, Israel’s settlement subcommittee advanced another plan for 342 units in the Asahel settlement between east and west Mount Hebron, the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Peace Now, an Israeli rights group, warned the move delivers a “knockout blow” to the two-state solution. The organization said the expansion would permanently fragment the West Bank while isolating East Al-Quds.

Analysts link the timing to recent announcements by countries including the UK, France, and Australia, signaling plans to recognize Palestinian statehood during the UN General Assembly in September.

The United Nations and most of the international community deem Israeli settlements illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly cautioned that such expansion destroys prospects for a negotiated solution.

Figures from the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission show Israel has established at least 710 settlements and military outposts in the occupied West Bank since 1967—averaging one every eight square kilometers.

Palestinian officials stress East Al-Quds’ status as their capital, citing UN resolutions rejecting Israel’s 1967 occupation and its unilateral annexation in 1980.

Since the start of the second year of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,014 Palestinians and injured over 7,000 in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry reported.

In a landmark advisory opinion last year, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Al-Quds.