Israel approves settlement plan to ‘erase' idea of Palestinian state
JERUSALEM — A widely condemned Israeli settlement plan that would cut across land which the Palestinians seek for a state received final approval on Wednesday, according to a statement from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The approval of the E1 project, which would bisect the occupied West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, was announced last week by Smotrich and received final go-ahead from a defense ministry planning commission on Wednesday, he said.
Restarting the project could further isolate Israel, which has watched some Western allies frustrated by its continuation and planned escalation of the Gaza war announce they may recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
"With E1 we are delivering finally on what has been promised for years," Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition, said in a statement. "The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions."
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the announcement on Wednesday, saying that the E1 settlement would isolate Palestinian communities living in the area and undermines the possibility of a two-state solution.
A German government spokesperson commenting on the announcement told reporters on Wednesday that settlement construction violates international law and "hinders a negotiated two-state solution and an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on the E1 announcement.
However on Sunday, during a visit to Ofra, another West Bank settlement established a quarter of a century ago, he made broader comments, saying: "I said 25 years ago that we will do everything to secure our grip on the Land of Israel, to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, to prevent the attempts to uproot us from here. Thank God, what I promised, we have delivered."
The two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel.
Western capitals and campaign groups have opposed the settlement project due to concerns that it could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians.
The plan for E1, located adjacent to Maale Adumim and frozen in 2012 and 2020 amid objections from the US and European governments, involves construction of about 3,400 new housing units.
Infrastructure work could begin within a few months, and house building in about a year, according to Israeli advocacy group Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.
Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area and saying the settlements provide strategic depth and security. — Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
GMA Network
an hour ago
- GMA Network
Israel bombards Gaza City ahead of planned offensive
A man carries a poster as Palestinians wave their national flag in Gaza City on August 21, 2025, during a demonstration ahead of Israel's planned offensive against the city. Omar Al-Qattaa/ AFP CAIRO/JERUSALEM — The Israeli military maintained its pressure on Gaza City with heavy bombardments overnight, residents said, ahead of a Thursday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers on plans to seize the enclave's largest city. The military a day earlier called up 60,000 reservists in a sign that the government was pressing ahead with the plan, despite international condemnation. However, one military official said that most reservists would not serve in combat and that the strategy to take Gaza City had not yet been finalised. Calling up tens of thousands of reservists is also likely to take weeks, giving time for mediators to attempt to bridge gaps over a new temporary ceasefire proposal that Hamas has accepted, but the Israeli government is yet to officially respond to. The proposal calls for a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas militants and of 18 bodies. In turn, Israel would release about 200 long-serving Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli government has restated that all of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza must be released at once. Israeli officials believe that around 20 of them are still alive. In a sign of growing despair at conditions in Gaza, residents staged a rare show of protest against the war on Thursday. Carrying banners reading "Save Gaza, enough" and "Gaza is dying by the killing, hunger and oppression," hundreds of people rallied in Gaza City in a march organized by several civil unions. "This is for a clear message: words are finished, and the time has come for action to stop the military operations, to stop the genocide against our people and to stop the massacres taking place daily," said Palestinian journalist Tawfik Abu Jarad during the protest. The Gaza health ministry said at least 70 people had been killed in Israeli fire in the enclave in the past 24 hours, including eight people in a house in Sabra suburb in Gaza City. A statement from the Palestinian Fatah movement said one of those killed in Sabra was a Fatah leader and former militant, along with seven members of his family. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Gaza City seizure The plan to seize Gaza City was approved this month by the security cabinet, which Netanyahu chairs, even though many of Israel's closest allies have urged the government to reconsider. Netanyahu will hold a meeting on Thursday to approve operational plans, according to a source close to the prime minister. He intends to launch the operation as soon as possible, which would include issuing warnings to residents to leave Gaza City, the source said. Even as the military begins its preparations to launch the assault on Gaza City, Israeli officials have indicated that there is time for a ceasefire to be reached. Netanyahu is under pressure from some far-right members of his coalition to reject a temporary ceasefire and instead to continue the war and pursue the annexation of the territory. In Gaza City, thousands of Palestinians have left their homes as Israeli forces have escalated shelling on the Sabra and Tuffah neighborhoods. Some families have left for shelters along the coast, while others have moved to central and southern parts of the enclave, according to residents there. "We are facing a bitter-bitter situation, to die at home or leave and die somewhere else, as long as this war continues, survival is uncertain," said Rabah Abu Elias, 67, a father of seven. "In the news, they speak about a possible truce, on the ground, we only hear explosions and see deaths. To leave Gaza City or not isn't an easy decision to make," he told Reuters by phone. Israeli tanks have been edging closer to densely populated Gaza City over the past 10 days. On Thursday, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that the military had started making what he said were initial warning calls to medical and international organizations operating in Gaza's north, telling them that Gaza City residents should start to prepare to move out of the city and towards the south. Adraee shared a recording of what he said was an Israeli officer telling a Gazan health ministry official that hospitals in southern Gaza should also prepare to receive patients from medical facilities in the north, who will be forced to evacuate. A Gaza health ministry official confirmed the phone call had taken place. The official said health authorities had no intention to evacuate Gaza City hospitals, saying that would risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Two more people have died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Thursday. The new deaths raised the number of Palestinians who have died from such causes to 271, including 112 children, since the war began. Israel disputes malnutrition and starvation figures posted by the Gaza health ministry. — Reuters
GMA Network
5 hours ago
- GMA Network
Putin is prepared to meet Zelenskiy if key issues are worked through first, Lavrov says
Asked by reporters if Putin was willing to meet Zelenskiy, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters: "Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelenskiy." Maxim Shipenkov/ Pool/ AFP/ File photo MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin is prepared to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy but all issues need to be worked through first and there's a question about Zelenskiy's authority to sign a deal, Putin's foreign minister said on Thursday. Putin and US President Donald Trump met on Friday in Alaska for the first Russia-US summit in more than four years and the two leaders discussed how to end the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two. Following his summit talks in Alaska, Trump said on Monday he had begun arranging a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, to be followed by a trilateral summit with Trump. Asked by reporters if Putin was willing to meet Zelenskiy, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters: "Our president has repeatedly said that he is ready to meet, including with Mr. Zelenskiy." Lavrov, though, added a caveat: "With the understanding that all issues that require consideration at the highest level will be well worked out, and experts and ministers will prepare appropriate recommendations. "And, of course, with the understanding that when and if—hopefully, when—it comes to signing future agreements, the issue of the legitimacy of the person who signs these agreements from the Ukrainian side will be resolved," Lavrov said. Putin has repeatedly raised doubts about Zelenskiy's legitimacy as his term in office was due to expire in May 2024 but the war means no new presidential election has yet been held. Kyiv says Zelenskiy remains the legitimate president. Russian officials say they are worried that if Zelenskiy signs the deal then a future leader of Ukraine could contest it on the basis that Zelenskiy's term had technically expired. Lavrov said that the best option for a security guarantee for Ukraine would be based on discussions that took place between Moscow and Kyiv in 2022. Under a draft of that document which Reuters has seen, Ukraine was asked to agree to permanent neutrality in return for international security guarantees from the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. Any attempts to depart from the failed Istanbul discussions would be hopeless, Lavrov said, accusing European leaders of trying to undermine progress made at the Alaska summit. — Reuters
GMA Network
8 hours ago
- GMA Network
Taiwan to massively hike 2026 defense budget
Reservists receive training during the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taoyuan, Taiwan, July 9, 2025. The drills are conducted every year across Taiwan to simulate defending the island against Chinese attacks. REUTERS/ Ann Wang TAIPEI - Taiwan plans to boost defense spending by a fifth next year, surpassing 3% of gross domestic product, as it invests billions more in new equipment to better face down China and convince the United States it takes seriously calls to bolster its military. The move comes as China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects. But Taiwan also faces calls from Washington to spend more on its own defense, mirroring pressure from the United States on Europe. This month, President Lai Ching-te said he wanted to boost defense spending to more than 3% of GDP next year. Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters that 2026 defense spending would reach T$949.5 billion ($31.27 billion). At 3.32% of GDP, the figure crosses a threshold of 3% for the first time since 2009, government figures showed. "This is another concrete demonstration to the world and to our people of our determination and ability to safeguard national sovereignty and security, maintain stability and security in the Indo-Pacific region, and fulfill our shared responsibilities to the world," Cho said on Thursday. Taiwan was following the "NATO model" to include spending on the coast guard and veterans in total defense expenditure, he added. That represents a rise of 22.9% over this year, Hsieh Chi-hsien, head of the defense ministry's comptroller bureau, told reporters. The plans included several special defense budget proposals totaling T$117.6 billion, for new fighter jets and boosting naval defenses among others, which had been widely expected from the defense ministry in the coming parliament session this year. Taiwan was including spending for the coast guard in its total defense budget for the first time, two senior officials briefed on the matter separately told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They are standing on the frontline," said one, referring to the coast guard, which figures in regular stand-offs with China's coast guard and would, in time of war, be pressed into the navy's effort to defend Taiwan. "Facing new types of threat, including grey-zone tactics, it is necessary to include the coast guard in defense spending," the official said, referring to Chinese pressure tactics such as regular coast guard patrols near Taiwan's islands. Taiwan's government has made military modernization a key policy platform and has repeatedly pledged to spend more on its defenses given the rising threat from China, including developing made-in-Taiwan submarines. China's air force flies almost daily missions into the skies near Taiwan, and holds periodic war games, the last in April. China is also rapidly modernizing its armed forces, with new aircraft carriers, stealth fighter jets and missiles. In March, China unveiled a rise of 7.2% in this year's defense spending, to 1.78 trillion yuan ($248.17 billion), outpacing its 2025 economic growth target of about 5%. – Reuters
