The Israeli government has formally approved the construction of the long-controversial E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, a move widely regarded as a potentially decisive blow to the viability of a future Palestinian state. The Israel Land Authority has issued a tender for 3,401 housing units in the area known as E1, a strategically significant corridor of land between Jerusalem and the existing settlement of Ma’ale Adumim. Many analysts see this decision as the culmination of a long-term strategy pursued by Israel’s right-wing leadership to create what it calls “facts on the ground” that would permanently foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a central figure behind the current wave of settlement expansion, has been unusually explicit about the political purpose of the project. Following approval of the plan, he stated that E1 was intended to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”, adding that Israel’s response to international recognition of Palestine would come “not through documents, not through declarations, but through facts – facts of homes, neighbourhoods, roads and Jewish families”.
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The E1 project would link the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim directly to Jerusalem, effectively cutting the West Bank in two. Such a connection would separate the northern West Bank, centred around Ramallah, from the southern West Bank, including Bethlehem, while further isolating East Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian territories. According to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organisation, this development would entrench a “one-state reality” that could only function as a system of permanent inequality, which it describes as an apartheid regime.
Israeli leaders have been increasingly open about this trajectory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while overseeing infrastructure agreements related to E1, declared publicly: “We said there will be no Palestinian state, and indeed there will be no Palestinian state. This place is ours.” Such statements have reinforced concerns that settlement expansion is no longer presented as a bargaining tool, but as an end in itself.
The timing and scale of the E1 tender are part of a broader acceleration of settlement activity across the West Bank. The previous year saw a record number of housing tenders issued in settlements, totalling 9,629 units. This figure exceeds the combined total of the previous six years, indicating a sharp increase in construction activity.
The pace of recent expansion has been particularly striking. Whereas the preparation of housing tenders typically takes between six months and a year following planning approval, the E1 tender was finalised in just four months. This unusual haste appears to be driven by domestic political considerations, notably the desire to begin physical construction ahead of elections scheduled for October. The bidding deadline for the E1 project is set for mid-March 2026, raising the prospect that construction could begin within a matter of months.
The expansion is marked by an extensive network of highways and bypass roads, integrating settlements into Israel proper and keeping out Palestinian towns and villages. Barriers and restricted zones further limit freedom of movement for Palestinians and prevent their natural urban development. Between 2022 and 2024, an estimated one million dunams of Palestinian land were reclassified or seized under Israeli military and bureaucratic authority.
The ongoing push to build in the E1 corridor marks a significant departure from long-standing global consensus and faces ongoing legal challenges. For years, construction in the area was effectively frozen due to pressure from the United States and European allies, who viewed E1 as a red line for the prospects of a negotiated peace. However, the Netanyahu government, perceiving a shift in Washington’s stance, has moved forward. Smotrich has claimed that former US President Donald Trump abandoned opposition to the project, a perception that has emboldened the Israeli leadership.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice issued a far-reaching advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and calling for it to end “as rapidly as possible”. Several Western governments, including France, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, have condemned the E1 decision as a clear violation of international law. Despite this, Israel’s judiciary has declined to halt the plans while petitions from Palestinian residents and human rights organisations are considered, allowing the tender process to proceed unabated.
