Latest news with #E1Project
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israeli settlement plans mark ‘final nail in coffin of Palestinian state', says minister
Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the latest plans for Jewish settlement expansion between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim mark the 'final nail in the coffin of a Palestinian state'. Under the plan, which was announced on Thursday by Mr Smotrich, who holds ministerial responsibility for civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank, more than 3,000 new homes will be built near Ma'ale Adumim. This will revive the long-stalled E1 project that essentially divides the West Bank in two and is seen by critics as a strategic barrier to a future Palestinian state. 'Those around the world trying to recognise a Palestinian state will get our answer on the ground,' Mr Smotrich said. He said the plan has the full support of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and would be formally approved by the government next week. 'Not in any documents, not in decisions or declarations, but in facts. Facts of homes, neighbourhoods, roads and Jewish families building their lives. READ MORE 'They'll keep talking about a Palestinian dream, and we'll keep on building a Jewish reality,' he added. 'A reality that buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there's nothing to recognise and no one to recognise it.' Settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this. About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the move will lead to escalation, tension and instability. He stressed that settlement in all its forms is unacceptable, and blamed both Israel and the US for enabling a situation that contradicts legitimacy and international law. The Palestinian foreign affairs ministry said the new tenders were linked to 'the notion of 'Greater Israel'' and part of a wider plan to 'undermine the opportunity to establish the Palestinian state'. 'The colonial construction in the E1 area is a continuation of the occupation's plans to undermine the opportunity to establish the Palestinian state on its homeland, weaken its geographical and demographic unity, entrench the division of the West Bank into isolated areas surrounded by a sea of settlements, and facilitate the completion of their annexation,' the ministry said in a statement, calling for international intervention and sanctions to thwart the move. There was also widespread condemnation from across the Arab world, led by Jordan and Egypt. [ The Irish Times view on the killing of Anas al-Sharif: Israel is targeting journalism Opens in new window ] Israel had frozen E1 construction plans since 2012 because of objections from the US, European allies and other world powers who considered the project a threat to peace prospects. The construction divides the West Bank into northern and southern areas and blocks the possibility of territorial contiguity for Palestinians between East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah, which the Palestinians wanted to serve as the foundation of a future independent state. Ma'ale Adumim is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank. Residents claim the construction is needed to absorb the natural growth of the community. Ma'ale Adumim mayor Guy Yifrach expressed his strong support for the plans. 'Palestinians have tried to undermine this area through illegal construction, but the creation of this new neighbourhood will thwart their efforts,' he said. [ Gaza's last hospitals battle to save patients amid severe depletion of life-saving medical items Opens in new window ] Anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now criticised the move. 'The Netanyahu government is exploiting every minute to deepen the annexation of the West Bank and prevent the possibility of a two-state solution,' the group said in a statement. 'It is clear to everyone today that the only solution to the conflict, and the only way to defeat Hamas, is through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The Government of Israel is condemning us to continued bloodshed, instead of working to end it.'
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
New West Bank settlement will ‘bury idea of Palestinian state'
Israel has announced it will build an enormous settlement in the West Bank to effectively ' bury the idea of a Palestinian state '. About 3,300 homes would built between Jerusalem and the Jordan border under the plans announced on Thursday, in direct response to British and French plans to recognise an independent Palestine. Critics fear the 'E1' project will effectively cut the West Bank in two, preventing a contiguous body of land that could form the basis of a viable Palestinian state. The plan was first envisaged decades ago but has been on ice mainly because of international pressure, including, most recently, from the Biden administration. However, key Israeli cabinet posts are now filled by religious ultra-nationalists from West Bank communities who have long called for accelerated Jewish settlement of the areas, plus legal annexation by the state of Israel. One of them, Bezalel Smotrich, the finance minister, announced on Thursday that he plans to approve tenders for thousands homes around the town of Ma'ale Adumim. 'Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government,' he said. This follows a decision by the Security Cabinet in March to build a separate road system in the area that is feared will effectively cut off the central West Bank to Palestinians. Mr Smotrich, who also holds a ministerial position in the defence ministry relating to West Bank matters, said Benjamin Netanyahu supported the plans. He added: 'We will make sure that by September, the hypocritical leaders in Europe will have nothing to recognise.' Israeli ministers had warned it could unilaterally annex the West Bank in retaliation for Western recognition of Palestine outside a broader peace agreement. Both Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have promised to recognise an independent Palestinian state at the September General Assembly meeting of the UN. Mr Macron's declaration was unconditional, whereas Sir Keir's promise of recognition is conditional on Israel failing to take de-escalate the situation in both Gaza and the West Bank, which is very unlikely to happen. Israel branded recognition for Palestine as a 'reward for terrorism'. The Telegraph understands that British and other European diplomats in Jerusalem had advised their governments that, because of the pace of new settlement activity and escalating violence against Palestinians, effective annexation of the West Bank was already taking place. The US has also condemned the moves. The E1 plan has been described as the 'doomsday' settlement, because it threatens to radically reduce the chance of ever finding a two-state solution, even in a future without Mr Netanyahu, who has always opposed a Palestinian state. The project would divide the West Bank into northern and southern regions, preventing the development of a wider Palestinian metropolis connecting East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Ramallah. Activists said the proposal announced on Thursday was not for the original E1 project, but rather for 3,300 housing units in Ma'ale Adumim. Peace Now said the project represented 'an increase of about 33 per cent in the settlement's housing stock'. 'We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed,' the group said. Israel Gantz, the chairman of the Yesha settler group, an umbrella organisation for Jewish settlements in the West Bank, applauded 'another great and historical achievement for the settlement on the eve of the application of sovereignty'. Most of the international community views Israeli settlements in the West Bank and its military occupation over the areas since the 1967 Six Days War as illegal. About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in a move not recognised by most countries but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West Bank. The UN and most world powers say settlement expansion has eroded the viability of a two-state solution by fragmenting Palestinian territory. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area, which it calls Judea and Samaria, and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Israel advances controversial settlement plan, aiming to ‘bury the idea of a Palestinian state'
Israel is moving forward with controversial plans to build thousands of new housing units in the occupied West Bank, splitting the territory in two, a scheme far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said would 'permanently bury the idea of a Palestinian state.' The E1 settlement project, frozen for decades because of vociferous international opposition, would connect Jerusalem to the settlement of Maale Adumim, making a future Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem virtually impossible. It would also split the West Bank in half, preventing the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state. Smotrich announced the pending approval of 3,401 new housing units on Thursday in a press conference held on the site of the planned construction. '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 recognize and no one to recognize.' Final approval for the plan is expected next week. Smotrich has repeatedly lobbied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the occupied West Bank and apply Israeli sovereignty to the entire territory. In a statement, the presidency of the Palestinian National Council blasted the new settlement plans as a 'systemic plan to steal land, Judaize it, and impose biblical and Talmudic facts on the conflict.' 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 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. Smotrich announced the advancement of the plan in the press conference on Thursday, presenting it as Israel's response to the recent wave of countries announcing their intention to recognize a Palestinian state. The Israeli settlement watchdog 'Peace Now' blasted the advancement of the E1 plan, deeming it 'deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution.' In a statement, it said 'We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed. There is a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the terrible war in Gaza — the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel — and it will ultimately come. The government's annexation moves are taking us further away from this solution and guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed.'
