PA: Israeli building in E1 area is the end of two-state solution

The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry condemned on Tuesday the reports that the Israeli housing ministry is working on plans to build 55,548 units in West Bank settlements, including more than 8, 372 in the contentious E1 area, Safa news agency reported.

The PA foreign ministry said in a statement: “The settlement plans changes the micro Israeli settlement blocs to macro settlement blocs and this ends any chance to establish a geographically viable Palestinian state with the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital.”

Over the years, the US and European countries have warned Israel not to build on E1, which lies between Jerusalem and the large settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, because it would effectively bisect the West Bank’s northern and southern halves and make it very difficult for a future Palestinian state to be territorially contiguous.

The ministry called on the United Nations to take all possible legal and political measures to prevent Israel from carrying out its plans.