Israel to discuss settlement plan to divide occupied West Bank into two parts

The Central Planning Committee in the Israeli Civil Administration of the West Bank is to meet next Monday to discuss the E1 settlement plan that will divide the occupied territory into two parts, Maan news agency reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, Israel’s Hebrew-language Walla news website said that the plan is considered to be the most politically sensitive because it splits the West Bank by linking Jerusalem with the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement. The intention is to undermine the establishment of a future Palestinian state with any degree of territorial contiguity.

Walla said that the meeting will take place despite being postponed several times due to international pressure, especially from the United States and Europe.

An Israeli official said that the committee will discuss public objections to the plan. This suggests that it will not take any practical decisions to promote settlement construction at the present time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the report.

All of Israel’s settlements and the settlers who live in them are illegal under international law.

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