UN Chief warns Israel’s E1 settlement plans threaten Palestinian statehood

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Israel’s "unlawful" plans to expand settlements in the E1 area of the West Bank could sever its northern and southern parts, dealing a serious blow to Palestinian statehood.

"The recently published tender by Israel for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area, alongside continued demolitions is profoundly alarming," Guterres said on Tuesday at the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP).

"If carried forward, it would sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermine territorial contiguity, and strike a severe blow to the viability of a two-state solution," he added.

In August last year, Israeli occupation authorities approved the E1 project, which involves building 3,400 new settlement units in the occupied Palestinian territory, primarily near the existing Maale Adumim settlement. The plan also covers around 12 square kilometers to the east of al-Quds.

The settlement corridor threatens to divide the West Bank into isolated cantons, undermining any possibility of a contiguous Palestinian territory. Bedouin communities, including the village of Khan al-Ahmar, also face forced displacement under the plan.

Guterres further noted that over 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank in 2025 alone, a year that also saw record levels of Israeli settler violence.

"In the occupied West Bank, relentless illegal settlement expansion, demolitions, displacement, and evictions are accelerating," he said.

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Israel is planning a significant land appropriation of Palestinian land for the Sebastia Archaeological Site in the occupied West Bank.

Such actions, including Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, are "deeply destabilizing" and "unlawful" under international law, as recalled by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN chief added.

In July 2024, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s prolonged occupation of historic Palestine was unlawful and called for the removal of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds.

UN chief slams Israeli destruction of UNRWA compound in al-Quds

Guterres also strongly condemned Israel’s recent attack on the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in occupied al-Quds, as well as the destruction of UNRWA buildings.

UNRWA reported last month that Israeli forces stormed its compound in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, confiscated staff equipment, forcibly expelled employees, and demolished buildings within the premises.

Guterres denounced laws passed by Israel that further restrict UNRWA’s ability to operate and carry out its humanitarian mandate.

The remarks come as Israel has revoked the licenses of at least 37 international organizations, effectively banning their aid operations in Gaza and elsewhere across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Human rights groups have warned that Palestinians face a growing threat of ethnic cleansing amid the ongoing violence.

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