19 August 2025
A new Israeli settlement project will forcibly displace around 7,000 Palestinian residents in the occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem Governor’s Office has warned.
Last week, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also oversees settlement activity in the Defence Ministry, approved plans for building more than 6,900 settler units in and around the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
Smotrich said the E1 project aims to link Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem and cut Palestinian territorial continuity between Ramallah and Bethlehem.
In a statement, the Jerusalem Governor’s Office said on Monday that 22 Bedouin communities in the area would be directly affected by the settlement project.
Calling the project an Israeli colonial scheme, the office warned that the plan would isolate the communities of Jabal al-Baba and Wadi Jamil from the nearby town of Al-Eizariya.
The United Nations has consistently deemed Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory illegal under international law and a grave obstacle to a viable two-state solution.
