Israel Issues Tenders for 91 Settlement Units in Occupied West Bank

Jerusalem, MINA – Israeli occupation authorities issued two new tenders for the construction of 91 settlement units in the northern occupied West Bank and revised the timetable for another settlement tender east of Jerusalem, a Palestinian organization said Thursday, according to Anadolu Agency.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement that the two tenders cover land in the illegal Oranit settlement, built on land in the Qalqilya governorate.

The 91 units are divided among seven compounds, with the first tender covering four compounds for 86 multi-story housing units. The second tender covers three compounds for five low-rise settlement units. Bidding is scheduled to open November 16 and close December 29.

The commission also said Israel revised the timetable for Tender No. 460/2025, related to the E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem near the illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement. The tender covers 2,167 settlement units.

Under the revised timetable, the opening of bidding and publication of detailed tender documents were postponed to December 1, while the deadline for submitting bids was extended to December 28.

The E1 project is among the most sensitive settlement plans in the West Bank because of its location. The area lies east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement, and construction there would effectively connect the two, creating a continuous Israeli presence that cuts the West Bank in two and severs the northern and southern halves of the territory from each other.

That geography is why several Arab, Muslim, and Western countries have recently rejected Israeli moves to advance the E1 project, warning that it would undermine prospects for a two-state solution. The two-state solution, backed by UN resolutions, envisages an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. A settlement bloc linking Jerusalem to Ma’ale Adumim would make the territorial contiguity of such a state nearly impossible to achieve.

The revised timetable is significant in itself. Rather than canceling or freezing the tender, Israel postponed the opening of bidding to December 1 and extended the submission deadline to December 28, keeping the project alive while adjusting its schedule. The Oranit tenders, meanwhile, proceed on a faster track, with bidding opening November 16.

The tenders come amid a broader escalation in the West Bank since October 2023. Israeli military attacks and settler violence against Palestinians and their property, including in occupied East Jerusalem, have sharply escalated, with killings, arrests, home demolitions, property destruction, bulldozing of agricultural land, displacement, and settlement expansion.

On Tuesday, the Israeli army issued a military order seizing more than 26 dunums of Palestinian land in three villages northwest of Ramallah for a settler bypass road, and more than 9,500 demolition and stop-work notices have been issued across the West Bank, according to recent reports.

Palestinians warn that these measures are paving the way for Israel to formally annex the occupied West Bank, undermining prospects for an independent Palestinian state.

The timing also intersects with Israel’s political transition, as President Isaac Herzog prepares to announce on Sunday which lawmaker will be tasked with forming the next government following consultations in which 67 Knesset members recommended opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot and 46 backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)