Thu, Jan 08, 2026 page5

• Israel cleared to start West Bank work

  HOUSING TACTICS: Critics say the E1 project, which would run deep into the West Bank, would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state there

  • AP, JERUSALEM
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  Israel has cleared the final hurdle before starting construction on a settlement project near Jerusalem that would effectively cut the West Bank in two, according to an Israeli government tender.

  The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin construction of the E1 project.

  Peace Now, a group opposed to such settlements, first reported the tender.

  

  An area near Maale Adumim in the West Bank where Israel says housing units are to be built as part of the E1 settlement project is pictured on Aug. 14 last year.

  Photo: AP

  Yoni Mizrahi, who runs the group’s settlement watch division, said that initial work could begin within the month.

  Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to US pressure.

  The E1 project runs from the outskirts of Jerusalem deep into the occupied West Bank.

  Critics say it would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.

  Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees settlement policy, has long pushed for the plan to become a reality.

  “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions,” Smotrich said in August last year, when Israel gave final approval to the plan. “Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”

  The tender, publicly accessible on the Web site of the Israeli Land Authority, calls for proposals to develop 3,401 housing units.

  Peace Now said that the publication of the tender “reflects an accelerated effort to advance construction in E1.”

  On Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 11 people were injured during an Israeli raid at a university in the West Bank.

  A group of about 20 Israeli military vehicles stormed the gate and entered the campus, Birzeit University president Talal Shahwan told a news conference.

  Video obtained by The Associated Press confirmed the presence of troops on campus.

  “Unfortunately, targeting the university is a recurring event,” Shahwan said, adding that the forces displayed “clear brutality.”

  Israeli officials said military and border troops were sent to break up an anticipated gathering and soon found themselves facing a crowd of hundreds of people, some allegedly throwing rocks at them from rooftops.

  They said they used targeted fire toward the “main violent individuals.”

  In matters related to Gaza, a group representing major international media organizations on Tuesday criticized the Israeli government’s latest refusal to allow foreign journalists into Gaza, despite a three-month ceasefire.

  Israel has barred foreign media from entering Gaza since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.

  The Foreign Press Association has asked the Israeli Supreme Court to end the ban.

  The Israeli government this week told the court that it remains opposed to allowing international journalists into Gaza, citing security reasons.

  The association, which represents dozens of major media organizations expressed “its profound disappointment” with the government’s position and said it hoped judges would soon end the ban.

  The UN said that aid groups have enough food on hand to sustain people in Gaza for the first time since the war began more than two years ago.

  “The January round is the first since October 2023 in which partners had sufficient stock to meet 100 percent of the minimum caloric standard,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

  More aid has been reaching Gaza since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10 last year.

  However, the flow of humanitarian aid remains challenging amid Israel’s decision to revoke the licenses of more than three dozen organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Oxfam.

  EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on Tuesday called on Israel to lift the restrictions to avert deaths from exposure, hunger and a lack of medicine.

  “To deliver aid rapidly, safely and at the scale required, international NGOs [non-governmental organizations] must be able to operate in a sustained and predictable way,” Kallas said in a statement from the 27-nation bloc.

  Meanwhile, Syrian and Israeli officials met on Tuesday in Paris for US-mediated talks intended to broker a security agreement to defuse tensions between the two countries.

  A joint statement issued after the meeting said that it “centered on respect for Syria’s sovereignty and stability, Israel’s security, and prosperity for both countries.”

  The two sides have agreed to establish a joint communication cell “to facilitate immediate and ongoing coordination on their intelligence sharing, military de-escalation, diplomatic engagement and commercial opportunities under the supervision of the United States,” the statement said.

  The cell would serve as a platform to address disputes and “prevent misunderstandings,” it added.

  In December 2024, insurgents led by Syria’s now-Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa ousted former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in a lightning offensive.

  Al-Sharaa said that he has no desire for a conflict with Israel.
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