The plan to develop the controversial E1 area in the occupied West Bank is back in motion. If this goes through, it would further divide the Palestinian territory and undermine the viability of any future Palestinian state.
Earlier this week, Haaretz reported that Israeli authorities had formally advanced settlement plans in E1 after years of international pressure kept them on hold.
With E1 back on the docket alongside proposals for over 7,000 new illegal Jewish settler homes, critics warn the move marks a dangerous acceleration of annexationist policies.
According to Haaretz, the central planning bureau at the Civil Administration, the Israeli army's branch responsible for administering the occupied West Bank, is set to discuss the matter soon.
What is E1?
The East 1, better known as the E1 area, is located between the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and occupied East Jerusalem. Plans for settlement construction in E1 were initiated by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1990s but have been frozen on and off since 2005. The area spans over 12 square kilometres.
Located in a key central corridor of the West Bank, the area has long been viewed as critical to Israel’s efforts to consolidate control over greater Jerusalem and as a red line by Palestinians and much of the international community.
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), an Israeli think tank, argues that building the E1 is necessary to ensure Ma’ale Adumim's security and prevent it from being “isolated”. Palestinian analysts, however, see the plan as part of a broader political project.
According to The Times of Israel, the government is moving ahead with several projects in tandem, including 7,000 new settler homes, road infrastructure, bypass routes to link settlements while diverting Palestinian traffic and expansion of Ma’ale Adumim.
According to Al-Shabaka’s “Israel’s Annexation Crusade” briefing, E1 is “central to the geopolitical fragmentation of the West Bank.”
It would disconnect East Jerusalem from its Palestinian hinterland and cement an Israeli ring around the city, undermining any claim Palestinians might have to their future capital.
Haaretz claims that back in May, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, at Makor Rishon's settlement conference, said that the security cabinet would approve construction in E1.
He said the topic has been in discussion for years, and the government would approve the plans.
"We're already working on it professionally," the right-wing minister remarked. "This is how you kill the Palestinian state de facto. God willing, there'll be [Israeli] sovereignty [in the occupied West Bank] during this term."
The issue
If the development plan goes ahead, E1 will split the occupied West Bank into two. Palestinians moving between northern cities like Ramallah and southern areas like Bethlehem or Hebron would then depend on Israeli-controlled roads.
E1 is home to Palestine’s bedouin communities, such as Khan al-Ahmar, who face forced displacement if the plan proceeds. Any plan to demolish the homes of these communities has already been challenged in both Israeli and international courts.
Global community
The international community strongly condemns Israel’s E1 plan.
A July 15, 2025, statement by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs warns the project is “illegal under international law” and “would further isolate occupied East Jerusalem and separate it from the West Bank,” threatening the two-state solution, according to France Diplomatie.
The EU, UN, and successive US administrations have all expressed concern over E1 for decades. Many fear that if construction proceeds, it would effectively destroy the last prospects of a viable Palestinian state.
