Israel has issued a tender for 1,234 homes in the contested E1 area east of Jerusalem, part of a 3,401‑unit plan covering about 12 sq km. Critics — including the UK, the UN and Israeli and Palestinian groups — say the move will damage the viability of a Palestinian state by severing West Bank territorial contiguity. The bid deadline is 19 October, just days before Israel's 27 October general election, and legal challenges by Bedouin residents and Peace Now remain pending.
Israel Issues Tender For 1,234 Homes In Controversial E1 West Bank Project, Deepening Two‑State Concerns
File photo of the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank next to the so-called E1 project in East Jerusalem, taken in February 2026 [AFP via Getty Images]
Israel has published a tender for the construction of 1,234 homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, part of a larger 3,401‑unit plan that would cover roughly 12 sq km between East Jerusalem and the settlement of Maale Adumim. Critics say the move will further undermine the viability of a future Palestinian state by severing territorial contiguity in the West Bank.
The E1 corridor has long been one of the most contested pieces of land in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Settlement construction in the occupied West Bank is widely regarded by the international community as illegal under international law, and opponents argue that development in E1 would effectively split the West Bank north from south and isolate East Jerusalem from Palestinian population centres.
Numbers, Timing and Legal Challenges
The housing ministry has issued the tender for 1,234 of the 3,401 units approved by the government in August of last year. The deadline for bids is 19 October — days before Israel's general election on 27 October — a timing critics say is intended to make it politically harder for any incoming government to cancel the contracts.
[BBC]
Bedouin residents who live in the area and Israeli peace groups, including the watchdog Peace Now, have mounted legal challenges against the plan. Peace Now warned that even partial construction would "fundamentally alter" the area's geographic and strategic character.
Political Reactions
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband condemned the publication of the tender as "an unacceptable and destructive act," saying Britain had summoned Israel's Chargé d'Affaires and would set out measures in the coming weeks to respond to settlement expansion. A UN spokesperson said Secretary‑General António Guterres was "deeply alarmed" and called on Israel to refrain from further steps.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an ultranationalist and prominent settler ally, said at the plans' unveiling that the idea of a Palestinian state was "being erased." Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected the UK criticism as inappropriate interference.
Context And Possible Impact
Since 1967 Israel has established roughly 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, now home to about 700,000 Jewish settlers, while approximately 3.3 million Palestinians live in the territory Palestinians seek for a future state. Critics warn that construction in E1 could force the displacement of more than 40 Bedouin communities living in the area and would make a contiguous, viable Palestinian state far more difficult to achieve.
Supporters of the current government argue that expanding Jewish communities in strategic areas is a legitimate exercise of sovereignty and security. But the publication of the tender has intensified international criticism and raised fresh doubts about the prospects for a negotiated two‑state solution.
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