West Bank settlement plan: Europe urges Israel to halt

France, Italy, Britain and Germany urged Israel on Thursday to retract a major settlement plan in the occupied West Bank after Israeli authorities opened bidding for more than 1,200 homes in the E1 area.

In a joint statement, the four governments said the decision was especially concerning during what they called grave instability in the West Bank, including unprecedented settler violence against civilians and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy. They urged Israel to withdraw the plans immediately and end settlement expansion.

The E1 plan was approved by Israel last year. It seeks to build about 3,400 homes on a roughly 12-square-kilometre area east of Jerusalem, between the city and the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim. The plan would further separate east Jerusalem, occupied and annexed by Israel and mainly inhabited by Palestinians, from the West Bank.

Israeli NGO Peace Now said the latest tender was published on August 18 and immediately opened for bids. It said submissions were due by October 19, one week before Israeli elections scheduled for October 27, and accused the government of trying to advance construction commitments before the vote.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot also condemned the tenders on Thursday, calling them unacceptable and saying the project would seriously undermine the viability of a two-state solution. The UN secretary general has said the E1 plan posed an “existential threat” to a contiguous Palestinian state.

British Foreign Minister Ed Miliband demanded an end to the project on Wednesday, and London summoned Israel's charge d'affaires. Britain also pledged to unveil measures in the coming weeks, including sanctions targeting people involved in what it called illegal settlement expansion.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected Miliband's statement on Thursday and criticised what he called the “patronising tone” of his words. Saar said the Jewish people had the right to live throughout the Land of Israel and accused Britain of blaming only Israel while ignoring Palestinian extremism.

Excluding east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians and about 500,000 Israeli settlers. Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers has increased since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.