Israel expands West Bank settlements ahead of elections

Israel has begun the tender process for approximately 1,200 homes in a settlement area known as E1, located just east of Jerusalem. The move has triggered sharp international criticism, since all settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

The UN secretary general said the plans pose an "existential threat" to a future Palestinian state. The UK, France, Germany, Italy and Canada issued a joint statement calling the plans "unacceptable" and warning they would "drive a wedge through the West Bank" — a view echoed by the European Union. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on the signatories to take concrete measures to halt the plan's implementation.

History and expansion

The West Bank, along with Gaza and the Golan Heights, was captured by Israel during the 1967 war, and Israel has since built about 160 settlements there housing roughly 700,000 Jewish residents. Construction in E1 would effectively divide the West Bank in two and cut East Jerusalem off from the rest of the territory, blocking a contiguous Palestinian urban area linking Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog challenging the plans in court, said the government is racing to sign construction contracts before October's elections to make it harder for a future government to cancel the project.

In recent years, administration of the West Bank has increasingly shifted from military to civilian control under Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leading to a sharp rise in roads connecting settlements while cutting through Palestinian towns. In May, the government allocated more than a billion shekels for new road construction in the territory. Settler violence against Palestinians has also escalated — US Ambassador Mike Huckabee recently condemned the siege of two Palestinian homes as a "criminal and terrorist act."

The announcement comes just months before consequential Israeli elections, with Netanyahu's coalition hoping the move will boost its electoral standing or, failing that, create irreversible "facts on the ground."