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The Construction and Housing Ministry has issued a tender for seven residential compounds comprising 1,234 housing units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, according to reports from the Times of Israel. Contractors have until October 19 to submit bids, just days before the national election on October 27. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the advancement of the plan last year, stating it practically erases the two-state delusion.
The E1 zone spans about 12 square kilometres and lies between the Maale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem, the BBC reported. Development in the area has been frozen for years due to international opposition but gained final approval in August of last year as part of a package of 3,401 units. A court petition by Peace Now and Bedouin residents challenges the project on grounds it would sever the northern and southern West Bank while isolating East Jerusalem from potential Palestinian territory.
Since the current government assumed office in late 2022, settlement activity has reached record levels, the Middle East Institute documented in a June 2026 review. Plans for thousands of additional units were fast-tracked in 2023 after Smotrich received expanded powers over West Bank planning, according to the institute’s assessment. The Israeli budget for 2025 included more than 2.6 billion shekels, equivalent to around 830 million dollars, dedicated to expanding such projects.
Israel has established roughly 130 official settlements in the West Bank along with dozens of outposts since 1967, AP News figures show, with the Jewish population there now exceeding 465,000. These communities exist alongside approximately 3 million Palestinians in the territory, according to multiple demographic assessments. The entire settlement enterprise is deemed illegal under international law, a determination upheld by the United Nations and most governments.
Palestinian activist Jamal Juma, who lives in the area, described the potential impact as a disaster for more than 40 Bedouin communities that face eviction. “It is destruction of the communities, it’s destruction of families this is a disaster,” Juma said. Peace Now warned in its filing that the timing of the tender appears designed to lock in the project before any change in government following the upcoming vote.
The latest tender forms part of a broader surge in construction approvals that has intensified since the Gaza war began in 2023, according to Peace Now monitoring data updated in 2026. The group counts hundreds of new units advancing through planning stages each year in the West Bank. Israeli officials maintain the projects address housing needs for its citizens in disputed areas.
