Extract from ABC News
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich holds a map that shows the E1 settlement project. (AP: Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
In short:
Israel is moving to start construction on a contentious settlement project near Jerusalem, known as E1.
A government tender has been posted, seeking bids from developers, for 3,401 homes.
Critics say the project would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.
Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a contentious settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, according to a government tender.
The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project.
The anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now first reported the tender. Yoni Mizrahi, who runs the group's settlement watch division, says initial work could begin within the month.
Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure during previous administrations.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace.
View near Maale Adumim, where housing units will be built as part of the E1 project. (AP: Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
A controversial project
The E1 project is especially contentious because it runs from the outskirts of Jerusalem deep into the occupied West Bank. Critics say it would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees settlement policy, has long pushed for the plan to become a reality.
"The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions," he said in August, when Israel gave final approval to the plan.
"Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea."
The tender, publicly accessible on the website for Israel's Land Authority, calls for proposals to develop 3,401 housing units.
Peace Now says the publication of the tender "reflects an accelerated effort to advance construction in E1".
Food for Gazans
The United Nations said aid groups have enough food on hand to sustain people in Gaza for the first time since the war began more than two years ago.
"The January round is the first since October 2023 in which partners had sufficient stock to meet 100 per cent of the minimum caloric standard," UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Monday.
More aid has been reaching Gaza since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on October 10.
However, the flow of humanitarian aid remains challenging amid Israel's recent decision to revoke the licences of more than three dozen organisations, including such prominent groups as Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam.
On Tuesday the European Union's foreign policy chief called on Israel to lift the restrictions to avert deaths from exposure, hunger and a lack of medicines as thousands of displaced Palestinians return to what is left of their homes.
"To deliver aid rapidly, safely and at the scale required, international NGOs must be able to operate in a sustained and predictable way," Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, said in a statement from the 27-nation bloc, referring to non-governmental organisations.
AP
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