Financial minister of Israel threatens to annex West Bank region
The international community has expressed strong criticism towards Israel's plans to build around 3,400 housing units in the E1 area near Ma'ale Adumim, a move that could physically sever territorial connections between northern and southern West Bank Palestinian cities.
Israel's approval of this settlement expansion, announced in August 2025, has been described as an "existential threat to the two-state solution" by the UN Secretary-General. The UN Office for Human Rights also condemned the E1 settlement plan as "another unlawful step to consolidate the annexation of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem."
The UN, along with other intergovernmental organizations, has called for meaningful, coordinated international action to counter the acceleration of de facto annexation and settler expansion in the West Bank. They emphasize the urgency of protecting Palestinian civilians, halting dispossession, and maintaining focus on a negotiated two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
UNICEF and other UN bodies have highlighted the worsening humanitarian situation associated with these policies. Other international actors such as France and Saudi Arabia have supported efforts to renew high-level diplomatic focus on peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question and the implementation of the two-state formula.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a prominent figure from far-right factions, has threatened to annex the West Bank if a Palestinian state is recognized next month. This threat comes in response to several countries, including France, Canada, and Australia, planning to recognize a Palestinian state next month.
The E1 area is considered one of the most sensitive points in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Construction in the E1 area would effectively divide the West Bank into a northern and a southern part, making a contiguous territory for a future Palestinian state much more difficult, if not impossible.
The international criticism of the E1 construction plans is not limited to Western countries. Arab countries, including Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt, have also criticized Israel's occupation policy and settlement policy as hindering peace and stability in the region.
Peace Now, a peace organization, has warned that the final approval of the E1 building plans is scheduled for next Wednesday and that such plans are deadly for the future of Israel and any chance of a peaceful two-state solution. Despite this, Israeli government officials continue to celebrate these settlement expansions as vital to securing a "united capital" in Jerusalem and achieving their vision of a "greater Israel."
In summary, the international community widely views Israel's West Bank annexation plans and E1 settlement construction as illegal under international law, threatening Palestinian territorial contiguity, and severely damaging prospects for a two-state peace. Calls for immediate international diplomatic and humanitarian response have intensified in 2025 to address the deepening Israeli-Palestinian crisis linked to these developments.
The international community's criticism of Israel's E1 settlement expansion, a move that could sever Palestinian territorial connections and threaten the two-state solution, extends beyond Western countries as Arab nations like Qatar, Jordan, and Egypt also denounce Israel's occupation and settlement policies. In response to this ongoing conflict, UNICEF and other international actors are emphasizing the worsening humanitarian situation, calling for meaningful, coordinated international action, and advocating for the protection of Palestinian civilians and the maintenance of negotiated peace and legislation.
