By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

More than 400 former European ministers, ambassadors, and officials urged immediate action against Israel’s E1 settlement plan amid expanding demolition threats near Jerusalem.

Key Developments

• Over 400 former European officials urged EU action against Israel’s E1 settlement project.
• Israeli forces verbally ordered dozens of Palestinian businesses in al-Eizariya to evacuate ahead of demolitions.
• The E1 project aims to connect Maale Adumim settlement bloc with occupied Jerusalem.
• European signatories warned the plan would destroy territorial continuity for a future Palestinian state.

Demolition Threats in al-Eizariya

Israeli occupation forces on Wednesday verbally notified more than 50 Palestinian commercial establishments in the town of al-Eizariya, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, that they must evacuate before Sunday, ahead of planned demolitions tied to the controversial E1 settlement project.

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, the threatened structures are located in the al-Mashtal area at the main entrance to the town and had previously received demolition notices in August 2025.

The occupation reportedly warned that all buildings and contents would be demolished if owners failed to comply within the designated deadline.

E1 Project and Annexation Plans

Palestinian officials said the demolitions form part of the implementation of the E1 settlement project, which seeks to create full territorial continuity between the settlement of Maale Adumim and occupied Jerusalem.

The project would effectively sever the northern and southern occupied West Bank and absorb roughly 3 percent of its territory into the so-called “Greater Jerusalem” framework.

Officials also warned that the project would impose what they described as an “apartheid road system,” under which Palestinians would be prevented from using Route 1 and instead redirected through underground tunnels near the al-Zaayyem military checkpoint, while settlers would retain exclusive access to surface roads.

The plan additionally threatens the isolation of Palestinian communities, including Jabal al-Baba, Wadi al-Jamal, and al-Eizariya itself.

EU Officials Demand Sanctions

In a separate open letter issued Wednesday, 448 former European ministers, ambassadors, and senior officials called on the European Union to take immediate action against what they described as Israel’s “illegal annexation” policies in the occupied West Bank through the E1 project.

Among the signatories were former European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell and former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt.

The letter stated that the European Union and its member states, in cooperation with partners, must take immediate steps to deter Israel from continuing its illegal annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank.

The signatories urged the EU to impose targeted sanctions, including visa bans and restrictions on commercial activity, against individuals involved in settlement expansion and E1-related tenders.

Settlement Expansion Accelerates

Israel approved the E1 project in August 2025, including plans to build approximately 3,400 settlement units across 12 square kilometers east of Jerusalem.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich previously declared that “the Palestinian state is being erased, not through slogans but through actions,” while calling for full Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.

All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem are considered illegal under international law.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers currently live across the occupied West Bank, excluding occupied East Jerusalem, among approximately three million Palestinians.

The report added that Israel approved 54 new settlements in 2025 alone — a record figure — while more than 100 settlement sites have reportedly been approved since the current far-right government took power in 2022.

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(QNN, PC, Palestinian Media)