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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 21 Aug 202621 Aug 2026<\/p>\n
Israeli plans to build a major new illegal settlement that would cleave the occupied West Bank in two have provoked widespread condemnation from around the world.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway called Israel\u2019s opening of construction tenders for more than 1,200 housing units under the E1 settlement project<\/a> \u201cunacceptable\u201d and in violation of \u201cthe territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories\u201d.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n The group warned of \u201clegal and reputational consequences\u201d for participants and urged Israel \u201cto retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel\u2019s international standing,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also expressed its \u201ccomplete rejection of attempts to entrench the status quo through illegal settlement expansion\u201d and called on the international community to \u201ctake serious steps to stop these violations\u201d.<\/p>\n Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wrote on social media that the plans \u201cgravely undermine the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian homeland\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel has abandoned \u201ceven the pretence of seeking peace or respecting the will of the international community\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n The United Nations has also condemned the plan. The UN\u2019s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general was \u201cdeeply alarmed by the reports of new illegal Israeli settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank\u201d, including the new tenders.<\/p>\n Rising violence<\/p>\n Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied territory are illegal under international law, but their development has accelerated since the start of the Israeli government\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza launched in October 2023.<\/p>\n The project, slated to include at least 3,400 units, would connect occupied East Jerusalem to the Maale Adumim settlement area on roughly 12 square kilometres (4.6sq miles) of Palestinian land.<\/p>\n The settlement would bisect the West Bank from north to south, cutting off the West Bank\u2019s link to East Jerusalem, which for years Palestinians have cited<\/a> as the preferred capital of their future state.<\/p>\n Israel gave final approvals<\/a> to the E1 plan last August, with hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailing it as \u201chistoric\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,\u201d he boasted.<\/p>\n At least 21 countries condemned<\/a> the plans at the time.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s decision to move forward with the expansion comes as rights groups warn of the mass displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank amid rising settler attacks and the growth of illegal settlements.<\/p>\n Research from the UN\u2019s humanitarian body has found that more Palestinians were forcibly displaced by settler attacks, demolitions and evictions in the first four months of 2026 than in all of 2025.<\/p>\n Dozens of Palestinian communities in the West Bank are now at risk of erasure, Human Rights Watch said in a recent report<\/a>.<\/p>\n