Israel announces West Bank settlement that will 'bury' idea of Palestinian statehood
The E1 settlement project, which seeks to connect Jerusalem to the settlement of Maale Adumim and essentially split the West Bank in two, would effectively make it impossible to create a future Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem.
The announcement comes as an increasing number of countries, including the UK, France and Canada, are announcing they would recognise a Palestinian state from September.
Smotrich presented the advances in the project as Israel's response to those announcements.
The project has been in the works for two decades, but progress has been frozen due to strong international opposition.
Smitroch announced on Thursday that approval for 3,401 new houses was currently pending, with final approval expected next week.
He was speaking at press conference held at a planned construction site.
'They will talk about a Palestinian dream, and we will continue to build a Jewish reality,' Smotrich said.
'This reality is what will permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise.'
He has repeatedly lobbied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the occupied West Bank and apply Israeli sovereignty to the entire territory.
Palestinian officials were quick to criticise the plans.
In a statement, the presidency of the Palestinian National Council described them as a 'systemic plan to steal land, Judaize it, and impose biblical and Talmudic facts on the conflict'.
Palestinian Speaker Rawhi Fattouh said the 'colonial plan falls within the policy of creeping annexation' of the West Bank, which is accompanied by settler violence against Palestinians.
Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now described the E1 plan as 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution'.
All petitions to stop the construction were rejected by the planning committee on August 6.
Palestinians in the West Bank
Israel's plans for construction in the West Bank are contributing to increasingly difficult circumstances for Palestinians living in the West Bank as much of the focus is instead on Gaza, around 40 kilometres away from the occupied territory.
Attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have increased since October 7, 2023, while evictions from towns and an increased number of checkpoints have made life harder for those living there.
More than 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future state.
Would this be legal?
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
But during the first Trump administration, the State Department reversed longstanding US policy and ruled settlements were 'not inconsistent' with international law.
The Biden administration left this new policy in place.
Could other countries take in displaced Palestinians?
Prime Minister Netanyahu has said there are talks underway with a number of countries about taking in Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza.
South Sudan, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Libya and Indonesia are all involved in those talks, according to a senior Israeli official who spoke to ITV News' American partner CNN.
In exchange for taking in some of Gaza's population of more than two million people, the official said the countries are looking for 'significant financial and international compensation'.
But the countries have not individually confirmed what part they could play.
On Wednesday, South Sudan rejected a report that it was in discussions about the resettlement of Palestinians, saying in a statement the reports were 'baseless and do not reflect the official position' of the country. Somaliland also said there were no such talks earlier in the year.
Last week Indonesia said it was ready to take in 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza for treatment but that they would return to Gaza once they recovered.
Netanyahu has never given a detailed vision of what will happen to Gaza after the war but has repeatedly advocated for resettling displaced Palestinians in other countries, particularly after President Donald Trump floated the idea in January.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
31 minutes ago
- Reuters
Far-right Israeli minister pays surprise visit to jailed Palestinian leader
TEL AVIV, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Israel's far-right national security minister visited prominent Palestinian Marwan Barghouti in jail and told him "you will not win", a video showed on Friday, a day after another hardline cabinet member vowed to "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir shared the video on his X account, also telling Barghouti - a potential unifying figure among Palestinians who has been jailed for more than two decades - that anyone who threatens Israel would be eliminated. The prison visit took place earlier this week but became public after ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Thursday work would start on a settlement that would cut off East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as a capital for a future state, from the rest of the West Bank. Smotrich's office said the move would "bury" the idea of a Palestinian state. In the video clip on X which showed Barghouti looking thin and weak, Ben Gvir said: "You will not win. Anyone who messes with the people of Israel, anyone who murders our children, anyone who murders our women - we will wipe him out." "You have to know this, throughout history," he said. The Israeli prime minister's office and a spokesman for Ben-Gvir did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Palestinian Authority described the comments as a "direct threat" to the 66-year-old. Barghouti is a senior member of the Fatah movement that runs the authority, which exercises limited civic rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemns in the strongest terms the storming of the solitary confinement sections of Rimon Prison by extremist Minister Ben-Gvir and his direct threat to brother and leader Marwan Barghouti," it said in a statement. Barghouti was sentenced in 2004 to five life sentences and 40 years in jail after a court convicted him of orchestrating ambushes and suicide attacks on Israelis during the second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising. Barghouti, a leading Palestinian activist, has always denied the charges against him. His wife addressed him in a post on Facebook. "They are still, Marwan, chasing you and pursuing you, even in the solitary cell you've been living in for two years," she said of the visit, which Israeli media said took place this week. Supporters of Barghouti say he is a top contender to succeed 89-year-old Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president one day, portraying him as a Nelson Mandela-like figure who could galvanise and reunite their divided political landscape. A poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research published on May 6 showed he would secure 50% of the vote on a likely turnout of 64% in a three-way presidential race against Abbas and prominent Hamas official Khaled Meshaal. Elections for the Palestinian Authority presidency have not been held since 2005. Most world powers support the idea of a two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict, with an independent Palestinian state encompassing the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem existing alongside Israel. That prospect is receding under the most far-right government in Israel's history and a West Bank leadership discredited among Palestinians for failing to halt the spread of Jewish settlements that are ruled illegal by the United Nations.
Reuters
39 minutes ago
- Reuters
Hezbollah warns Lebanon 'will have no life' if state moves against it
BEIRUT, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Hezbollah raised the spectre of civil war on Friday with a warning there would be "no life" in Lebanon if the government sought to confront or eliminate the Iran-backed group. The government wants to control arms in line with a U.S.-backed plan following Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah which was founded four decades ago with the backing of Tehran's Revolutionary Guards. But the group is resisting pressure to disarm, saying that cannot happen until Israel ends its strikes and occupation of a southern strip of Lebanon that had been a Hezbollah stronghold. "This is our nation together. We live in dignity together, and we build its sovereignty together - or Lebanon will have no life if you stand on the other side and try to confront us and eliminate us," its leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech. Israel has dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in the last two years, killing many of its top brass including former leader Hassan Nasrallah and 5,000 of its fighters, and destroying much of its arsenal. The Lebanese cabinet last week tasked the army with confining weapons only to state security forces, a move that has outraged Hezbollah. Qassem accused the government of implementing an "American-Israeli order to eliminate the resistance, even if that leads to civil war and internal strife." However, he said Hezbollah and the Amal movement, its Shi'ite Muslim ally, had decided to delay any street protests while there was still scope for talks. "There is still room for discussion, for adjustments, and for a political resolution before the situation escalates to a confrontation no one wants," Qassem said. "But if it is imposed on us, we are ready, and we have no other choice ... At that point, there will be a protest in the street, all across Lebanon, that will reach the American embassy." The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, which left parts of Lebanon in ruins, erupted in October 2023 when the group opened fire at Israeli positions along the southern border in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas at the start of the Gaza war. Hezbollah and Amal still retain influence politically, appointing Shi'ite ministers to cabinet and holding the Shi'ite seats in parliament. But for the first time in years, they do not hold a "blocking third" of cabinet, enabling them to veto government decisions in the past. Hezbollah retains strong support among the Shi'ite community in Lebanon, but calls for its disarmament across the rest of society have grown.
South Wales Guardian
44 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Britain's rights watchdog warns against heavy-handed policing amid Gaza demos
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has written to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley to remind them that the 'right to protest is a cornerstone of any healthy democracy'. The letter, from EHRC chairwoman Baroness Kishwer Falkner, raised concerns about 'reports of police engagement with individuals participating in forms of protest that are not linked to any proscribed organisation'. The commission referenced a report by the Guardian newspaper about a woman said to have been threatened with arrest under the Terrorism Act for holding a Palestinian flag and signs saying 'Free Gaza' and 'Israel is committing genocide'. The woman was reportedly told by police that her demonstration in Canterbury, Kent, in July expressed views supportive of Palestine Action, an organisation which has been banned by the Government. The woman said neither of her signs mentioned Palestine Action and that she had told police she did not support any proscribed organisations. Baroness Falkner said any interference with protest rights 'must be lawful and assessed case-by-case'. She added: 'Heavy-handed policing or blanket approaches risk creating a chilling effect, deterring citizens from exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly through fear of possible consequences. 'This concern extends beyond those directly affected by police engagement to the broader health of our democracy, because the perception that peaceful protest may attract disproportionate police attention undermines confidence in our human rights protections.' The EHRC said Government and police authorities must 'ensure that all officers receive clear and consistent guidance on their human rights obligations' when it comes to protests. 'This guidance should ensure that the appropriate balance is maintained between public safety and the protection of essential human rights,' Baroness Falkner added. Palestine Action was proscribed by the UK Government in July, with the ban meaning that membership of, or support for, the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000. More than 500 people were arrested last weekend on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed group, as demonstrations took place in central London. Downing Street has described Palestine Action as 'violent' and said it has committed 'significant injury' as well as criminal damage, adding that evidence and security assessments shared in closed court supported its proscription. Palestine Action said Downing Street's accusations were 'false and defamatory' and 'disproven by the Government's own intelligence assessment'. The Metropolitan Police, Home Office and Kent Police have been contacted for comment. Meanwhile, campaigners including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Quakers in Britain have written to the Attorney General asking for prosecution decisions of those arrested at the London march at the weekend to be delayed until after further legal action over Palestine Action's proscription. A High Court hearing is set to take place in November challenging the group's ban as a terror organisation. In their letter to Attorney General Richard Hermer, the groups argued that 'prosecuting individuals for offences connected to that proscription before the court has determined its legality raises significant legal and moral questions' and said delaying prosecution decisions 'would demonstrate restraint, fairness and respect for the ongoing legal process'. The Attorney General's office has been contacted for comment.
