Israel has approved the construction of thousands of new settlement units in the “E1” corridor east of Jerusalem, a move that would sever the West Bank and make a sovereign Palestinian state impossible.

The decision, announced by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, authorises more than 6,900 housing units near Ma’ale Adumim and its surroundings. The project is designed to entrench Israeli control over occupied land, isolating East Jerusalem and cutting off Palestinian communities from one another.

Condemnation has poured in from across the world. The United Nations warned that the plan risks forced displacement, a war crime under international law. Arab states including Saudi Arabia and Qatar called it an extension of Israel’s illegal expansion, while Germany and the UK insisted the settlement plan violates international law and destroys the foundations of a two-state solution.

For Palestinians, the E1 scheme is not merely a construction project but the erasure of what remains of their land and political future. Each settlement built tightens the noose around East Jerusalem and fractures the West Bank into disconnected enclaves. With this plan, Israel has made clear its intention: to bury once and for all the possibility of Palestinian statehood.