Israel approved final planning for the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem, enabling infrastructure work within months and construction of about 3,500 apartments near Maale Adumim within a year. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated the move as historic and positioned it as a rebuke to recent Western recognition plans for a Palestinian state. Settlement development in E1, a tract long considered for development and previously frozen under United States pressure, threatens territorial contiguity between Ramallah and Bethlehem by occupying one of the last geographic links and worsening travel detours and checkpoints. International law regards settlement-building in occupied territory as illegal.
Israel has given final approval for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that experts say would damage plans for any future territorially contiguous Palestinian state in the territory. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who announced the plan on August 14, hailed the decision as historic and framed the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognise a Palestinian state in recent weeks.
The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions, Smotrich, a settler himself, said on Wednesday. Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea. Settlement development in E1, an open tract of Palestinian land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to United States pressure during previous administrations. Israel's settlement-building in occupied territory is considered illegal under international law.
Infrastructure work in E1 could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in about a year. The plan includes about 3,500 apartments that would be situated next to the existing settlement of Maale Adumim. I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood, the mayor of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement on Wednesday.
#e1-settlement #west-bank-occupation #palestinian-territorial-contiguity #israeli-settlement-expansion
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