Seven countries including UK, France and Germany condemn Israel’s plan to expand West Bank settlements

Israel has pushed forward with plans to expand settlements that would split the West Bank, sparking condemnation from countries across the world.

The Israeli Government on Thursday, local time, issued tenders for more than 1200 housing units to be built between the existing Maale Adumin settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem as part of the renewed E1 settlement scheme.

The scheme had been frozen in 2021 due to objections from world powers over concerns it could threaten a future peace deal and two-state solution.

But far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich in August 2025 announced the project would be refreshed in a statement headlined “burying the idea of a Palestinian state”.

The recent move by the Israeli Government only accounts for 1234 of the 3401 housing units approved under the scheme.

Bids on the tenders close on October 19, just under a week before a general election is held in Israel.

The decision has sparked outrage from a number of communities across the world, with the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Canada describing it as “unacceptable” in a joint statement.

“The international community has long opposed this settlement expansion, and has voiced their grave concerns privately and publicly,” the statement reads.

“The E1 settlement will undermine the prospect of the two-state solution by driving a wedge through the West Bank and harming the territorial contiguity of the Palestinian Territories.”

The countries added that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are “illegal” under international law and warned businesses who bid on the tenders could be in breach of international law.

“At a time of grave instability in the West Bank with unprecedented levels of violence by settlers against civilians, and serious restrictions on the Palestinian economy, this decision is even more concerning,” the statement reads.

“We urge the Government of Israel to retract these plans immediately and end its expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

“Not only will they take us further from peace, but they further undermine Israel’s international standing.”

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the country “will not stand back and accept the destruction of the two-state solution” and had summoned the Israeli Charge d’Affairs to “demand an immediate reversal” of the decision.