Tel Aviv, MINA – Israeli occupation has granted final approval for the highly controversial E1 settlement project, a plan that threatens to divide the occupied West Bank and further isolate East Jerusalem.
According to Anadolu Agency, the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, under Israel’s Defense Ministry, approved the construction of more than 3,400 settler homes between Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement. The project is designed to split the West Bank into two parts, severing the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and Hebron in the south.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the approval as a “historic decision,” claiming it undermines the possibility of a Palestinian state. Israeli rights group Peace Now condemned the move, describing it as a “knockout blow” to the two-state solution.
International observers say the timing of the approval may be linked to recent announcements by the UK, France, and Australia regarding their plans to recognize Palestinian statehood at the upcoming UN General Assembly. The United Nations and much of the international community continue to view Israeli settlements as illegal under international law.
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Since 1967, Israel has established at least 710 settlements and outposts in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission. Palestinians maintain that East Jerusalem is the capital of their future state, a position supported by international resolutions rejecting Israel’s occupation and annexation of the city.
The International Court of Justice also ruled in July that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and called for the dismantling of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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