Israel issues tender for 3,400 settler homes in east Jerusalem
Israeli authorities have issued a tender to build 3,401 new settler homes in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said Wednesday.
The move has raised alarm among Palestinians, who warn that construction in E1 could sever East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and block the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state. The area is considered a strategic corridor that Israel plans to use to connect the city with nearby settlements, including Maale Adumim, potentially preventing natural Palestinian urban growth, News.Az reports, citing Turkish media.
Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said the tender effectively revives a project that had been frozen for nearly three decades under international pressure. He added that all approval procedures for the plan were completed in August 2025. According to Shaaban, Israel issued tenders for over 10,000 settlement units across the West Bank in 2025, with more than 7,000 allocated to Maale Adumim.
The left-wing Israeli watchdog Peace Now condemned the E1 tender as “political recklessness,” warning it entrenches irreversible facts on the ground and threatens a two-state solution. The group said settlement expansion in East Jerusalem is pushing toward a system resembling apartheid and could fundamentally alter the city’s geographic and demographic landscape.
About 750,000 Israeli settlers currently live across West Bank settlements, including roughly 250,000 in East Jerusalem, figures cited by Palestinian officials who highlight ongoing settler violence aimed at displacing Palestinians.
For decades, the Palestinian Authority has called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt settlement expansion. The United Nations considers the settlements illegal, and the International Court of Justice ruled last July that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful, calling for the evacuation of all West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements.
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