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E1 ‘most dangerous’ settlement in occupied West Bank, says activist
Israel’s revived plans to illegally build more than 3,000 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem will be the “most dangerous” settlement in the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian activist.
Jamal Juma’, coordinator of the Stop the Wall grassroots campaign, told Al Jazeera that the development – newly revived after being frozen for years due to pressure from US administrations – would allow Israel to completely encircle Jerusalem, bisecting land that would be used for a future Palestinian state.
“With this block of settlements, they are totally blocking Jerusalem and encircling it from all sides,” he told Al Jazeera.
He said the Bedouin communities who lived to the east of Jerusalem would find themselves cut off.
“All these villages will become totally ghettoised, separated totally from their lands and blocked in that built-up area,” he said.
US responds to Israeli finance minister’s settlement expansion plan
Asked about Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s claim that Netanyahu and Trump back his plans to approve more than 3,000 new homes in the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank, a spokesperson for the US State Department said Washington is focused on ending the war in Gaza and ensuring Hamas will never govern that territory again.
“A stable West Bank keeps Israel secure and is in line with this administration’s goal to achieve peace in the region,” the spokesperson said, while referring to the Israeli government for further information.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) helps hold a map that shows the long-frozen E1 settlement scheme, on the day of a news conference near the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 14
Smotrich’s E1 settlement development plan would leave Palestinian communities ‘besieged'
If Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to approve the construction of more than 3,000 homes in the E1 area settlement of the occupied West Bank goes ahead, it will de facto divide the occupied West Bank into two. That’s because the E1 area goes from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, which is in the occupied West Bank, to occupied East Jerusalem.
That would mean the forced displacement of entire Palestinian communities. It would also mean that if you live in the north of the occupied West Bank, you won’t be able to go further south, isolating and changing the reality of the territory, causing Palestinians to live in communities besieged by Israeli settlements. Ultimately, it would also change the demographic makeup of occupied East Jerusalem into being majority Jewish.
It’s worth noting that the announcement for this plan comes just one day after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with an Israeli channel, said that he supports the plan of greater Israel and that he was on a historical and spiritual mission to achieve it.
