Ayhan Simsek
19 August 2026•Update: 19 August 2026
Germany has condemned Israel’s tender for over 1,000 West Bank settlement homes and urged it to drop the plan, saying it harms hopes for a diplomatic solution.
Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Giese said Wednesday the expansion of settlements in occupied Palestinian territories breaches international law and endangers the prospects for a two-state solution
“We condemn the tender published yesterday for over 1,000 housing units for the Israeli E1 settlement project,” he told a press conference in Berlin. “This hinders the path—demanded by the international community and the International Court of Justice—towards ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, thereby jeopardizing the prospect of a negotiated two-state solution.”
Giese said implementing the E1 project would effectively divide the West Bank in two and sever it from East Jerusalem, rendering a two-state solution unviable.
“We therefore once again call upon the Israeli government to halt plans for the E1 settlement and to cease settlement construction in the West Bank,” he said. Germany, he added, will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders that have not been agreed by the parties to the conflict.
“Germany clearly rejects any plans by the Israeli government for annexation,” Giese stressed. “The German government will continue to work with its European and international partners to establish the conditions necessary for a sustainable peace and a negotiated two-state solution.”