Israel approves controversial West Bank settlement project as IDF begins Gaza City assault

Israel has given final approval for a highly controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank, a move that critics say would effectively sever the territory and deal a severe blow to the prospects of a future Palestinian state.

The project concerns E1, a strategic tract of land east of Jerusalem. Plans for development there have been debated for over two decades but repeatedly stalled under U.S. pressure. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is deemed illegal under international law, and in a landmark ruling last year, the International Court of Justice said Israel must end settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as its occupation of those areas and Gaza, without delay.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician and former settler leader, hailed the decision as a direct response to recent European announcements of support for Palestinian statehood. “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” he declared. “Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”

The move drew sharp international criticism. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy described it on X as “a flagrant breach of international law,” while German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Josef Hinterseher said Berlin “strongly rejects this approval” and stressed that settlement expansion violates international law and UN Security Council resolutions.

The location of E1 is considered pivotal, as it lies between Ramallah in the north and Bethlehem in the south. The two cities are only 22 kilometres apart, but Palestinians must currently take long detours and navigate multiple checkpoints to travel between them. In any eventual Palestinian state, E1 was expected to provide a direct link.

The settlement decision comes as the situation in the West Bank grows increasingly bleak, with a surge in settler violence, evictions, military raids, and restrictions on movement, even as the world’s attention remains fixed on the conflict in Gaza.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military announced it had begun the first stage of its long-planned offensive to seize Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban centre. Brigadier General Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were now “holding the outskirts of Gaza City.”

Israel is also calling up 60,000 reservists, the largest mobilisation in months, as fighting intensifies and negotiators continue efforts to broker a ceasefire nearly two years into the war. The scale of the call-up carries major economic and political implications in a country of fewer than 10 million people.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee blamed recent European moves to recognise Palestinian statehood for undermining the Gaza ceasefire process. “The noise that has been made by European leaders recently ... is having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want,” he told the Associated Press.

The escalation follows mass demonstrations in Israel, where hundreds of thousands recently rallied in support of a ceasefire. Rights groups have warned that an expanded assault could deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where most of the enclave’s two million residents have been displaced, swathes of territory have been reduced to rubble, and famine looms.

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