JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

A new Israeli settlement project will forcibly displace around 7,000 Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem Governor’s Office warned Monday.  

Last week, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement activity in the Defense Ministry, approved plans for building more than 6,900 settler units in and around the

Ma’ale Adumim settlement. Smotrich said the E1 project aims to link Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem and cut Palestinian territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem.  

In a statement, the Jerusalem Governor’s Office said 22 Bedouin communities in the area would be directly affected by the settlement project.   

Calling the project an Israeli colonial scheme, the office warned that the plan would isolate the communities of Jabal al-Baba and Wadi Jamil from the nearby town of Al-Eizariya.  

The United Nations has consistently deemed Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory illegal under international law and a grave obstacle to a viable two-state solution.  

Israel’s decision to revive the E1 project is expected to heighten tensions with Palestinians and the international community, according to Israeli media.  

Peace Now, an Israeli rights group, has described the plan as a “knockout blow” to the two-state solution, warning that it would bisect the West Bank and further isolate East Jerusalem.  

Observers say the renewed push for the project appears to be a response to recent announcements by countries, including the UK, France, and Australia, that they intend to recognize Palestinian statehood during the UN General Assembly meetings in September.  

Palestinians stress that East Jerusalem remains the capital of their future state, citing international resolutions that reject Israel’s 1967 occupation and subsequent annexation of the city in 1980.  

Since the start of the second year of the Israeli war in Gaza in October 2023, at least 1,014 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in an advisory opinion, urging the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.