Overview

• Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich unveiled plans to build about 3,400 housing units in the E1 corridor and urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to extend Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank.
• Germany’s Foreign Office joined EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and UN Secretary-General António Guterres in denouncing the proposal as a violation of international law that would split the West Bank and end the viability of a two-state solution.
• Israeli NGOs report that the Defense Ministry will review the E1 proposal this week, with potential cabinet approval within months and construction slated to begin in roughly a year if greenlit.
• Palestinian Authority officials have called for international intervention and sanctions to block the project amid reports of settler attacks on villages such as Susja and Atara since the announcement.
• Experts warn that developing the E1 corridor would physically sever north-south contiguity in the West Bank and further undermine Palestinian territorial integrity.