UK condemns Israel’s new tender for E1 settlement plan in West Bank

On Tuesday, Israel's Ministry of Housing launched a tender for the construction of over 1,200 residential units within the controversial E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. This move follows an August 2025 approval for a total of 3,400 homes in the 12-square-kilometer area located between East Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement. The tender deadline for interested parties is set for October 19, 2026.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the decision on Wednesday, summoning the Israeli charge d'affaires to demand an immediate halt to the project and the withdrawal of the tender. Miliband emphasized the need to stop all settlement expansion, echoing long-standing international criticism that the E1 project threatens the geographic continuity of a potential Palestinian state by effectively cutting Palestinian territory in two. The United Nations and various international leaders have consistently opposed the initiative, warning that such development undermines prospects for a future sovereign state in the region.