The announcement of a new tender for 2,167 homes under the E1 Project, planned on Palestinian land east of East Jerusalem, drew a response from the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian Presidency spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh issued a written statement after the tender was announced for Oct. 25.
Abu Rudeineh called the construction of new settlements and the opening of a tender for them a dangerous escalation that violates international law. He said opening a tender for the E1 Project openly defied international resolutions and stated that the policy of imposing faits accomplis on Palestinian land was continuing.
Palestinian leadership criticizes E1 Project
Abu Rudeineh said the project threatened the territorial integrity of the Palestinian territories. He said the creation of new facts on the ground was intended to undermine the possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Abu Rudeineh said Israel’s steps would not grant it any right or legitimacy over the Palestinian territories. He reiterated that a policy of imposing faits accomplis could not create a new legal situation and that the occupied Palestinian territories were subject to the rules of international law.
Project plans 3,401 homes
The Israeli government plans to build a total of 3,401 new homes under the E1 Project in occupied East Jerusalem. A tender for 1,234 homes was opened in August, and the tender for the remaining 2,167 homes was announced for Oct. 25.
The E1 Project is associated with a plan to connect the Maale Adumim settlement near the al-Eizariya neighborhood, which is part of East Jerusalem but lies on the West Bank side of the Separation Wall, to West Jerusalem.
In 1999, 12,000 dunams of Palestinian land were seized to build thousands of homes and hotels under the project. The Israeli government suspended the project for a period because of pressure from previous U.S. administrations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the E1 Project in September 2025. The project was described as effectively dividing the West Bank in two and aims to sever the connection between East Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories in the West Bank.
International reactions to the first tender
Israel’s earlier tender notice for 1,234 homes under the E1 Project drew international reactions. The United Kingdom and several other Western countries decided to ban trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, while some countries announced their intention to take similar action.
In response, the Israeli government decided to close the United Kingdom’s Consulate General in Jerusalem, which represents Britain to the Palestinians, expel British representatives from the Civil-Military Coordination Center in Kiryat Gat, and halt the United Kingdom’s training activities for Palestinian Authority forces in the West Bank.
Israel also banned 12 British citizens, most of them lawmakers, from entering the country on the grounds that they had been involved in “anti-Israel activities.”
