Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has thrown his weight behind plans to construct 3,400 homes in the sensitive E1 area of the occupied West Bank, urging the annexation of the territory in defiance of international objections.
The announcement comes as several countries, including Britain and France, prepare to recognise a Palestinian state later this year.
In a statement at a pro-settlement event, Smotrich declared, “Those who want to recognise a Palestinian state today will receive a response from us on the ground… Through concrete actions: houses, neighbourhoods, roads and Jewish families building their lives.” He further urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take decisive action, saying, “On this important day, I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to apply Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, to abandon once and for all the idea of partitioning the country, and to ensure that by September, the hypocritical European leaders will have nothing left to recognise.”
The E1 zone, a 12-square-kilometre stretch east of Jerusalem between the city and the Maale Adumim settlement, has been at the centre of heated disputes for decades. Critics argue that construction there would sever the northern and southern West Bank, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, warned of the consequences, stating, “If this went ahead — which we call on the Israeli government not to do… it would sever the northern and southern West banks.”
He added, “As the Israeli finance minister and the Palestinians and other NGOs all agree — it would put an end to the prospects of a two-state solution.”
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the move, urging, “genuine international intervention and the imposition of sanctions on the occupation to compel it to halt the implementation.” It described the plan as “a continuation of the occupation’s plans to destroy the opportunity for the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
European Union foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, also weighed in, saying the decision “further undermines the two-state solution while being a breach of international law” and called on Israel “to desist.”
Israeli NGO Peace Now, which tracks settlement growth, described the E1 plan as “deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution.” The group revealed that the final approval hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday before a defence ministry technical committee that has already dismissed all objections. According to the NGO, “infrastructure work in E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within about a year.”
The West Bank currently houses roughly three million Palestinians and around 500,000 Israeli settlers.
