The Palestinian Authority (PA) has unequivocally condemned an Israeli decision to issue a tender for more than 1,200 new housing units in the occupied West Bank under its E1 settlement project, a move widely condemned as a blatant violation of international law and a significant step towards further consolidating Israeli control over Palestinian territory. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC), a PA government body affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), issued a statement on Tuesday warning that advancing these plans would lead to the confining of Palestinians within ‘disconnected enclaves surrounded by settlements,’ a strategy critics describe as a deliberate attempt to diminish Palestinian sovereignty and territorial integrity. Israel’s E1 plan, approved by the government last year, aims to construct over 3,400 housing units on roughly 12 square kilometers (4.6 square miles) of Palestinian land within the West Bank, and further expands Israeli settlements and outposts across the region. Israeli settlements and outposts are illegal under international law, a point highlighted by numerous international bodies and resolutions. The plan would link thousands of settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, which Israel has already annexed, to the Maale Adumim settlement bloc in the West Bank. This would fully sever East Jerusalem, a long-held Palestinian aspiration as the capital of their future state, and effectively bisect the West Bank. The submission of bids for the project is due on October 19, a deadline before scheduled elections in Israel, in which Netanyahu and his government are expected to see a decline in support. The CRRC stated that the tender for the 1,200 units should be viewed as a strategic initiative to reshape the area between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, a geographic and political realignment that fundamentally alters the landscape of the West Bank. Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Hizma in the West Bank, confirmed that this development is viewed as a ‘last nail in the coffin’ of the two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ‘The E1 project has already been delayed several times by the Israeli government, but now we see it happening on the ground,’ she said. The CRRC asserted that the tender represents a deliberate effort to implement a broader geopolitical project aimed at reshaping the area between Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley, a move that is considered by many to be a fundamental shift in the balance of power in the region. Israel’s Ministry of Construction and Housing approved the start of the bidding process for 1,234 housing units on Tuesday. The tender covers one of two construction plans approved for E1, according to the Israeli rights organization Ir Amim and peace advocacy group Peace Now. In a news release on Tuesday, Ir Amim stated that even a ‘partial implementation’ would create irreversible facts on the ground, fundamentally altering the geographic and strategic character of the area – severing the northern West Bank from the south and isolating East Jerusalem. In a statement on X, referring to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler in the West Bank, Peace Now accused the ‘Netanyahu-Smotrich government’ of ‘trying to bury the two-state solution’ through this settlement project. ‘In the midst of an election campaign, the government is attempting to turn the annexation vision of the pro-settlement right into reality and to tie the hands of the next government,’ Peace Now stated. ‘The move is also being carried out in violation of an explicit commitment by the state.’ The price is not only diplomatic, but implementing E1 and closing the area to Palestinians threatens to disconnect dozens of Bedouin communities, including Khan al-Ahmar, and to lead to their expulsion from their land, according to Peace Now. The CRRC further stated that the project will exacerbate existing tensions and risks further destabilizing the region, potentially leading to increased displacement and humanitarian crises. The move underscores the continued commitment to Israeli territorial ambitions and undermines any prospects for a just and lasting peace settlement.
Source: Al Jazeera
