For Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, travelling between Ramallah and Bethlehem can be a strenuous ordeal despite the two cities being just 22 kilometres apart.
Instead of travelling directly north or south, they must take a circuitous route out towards the Dead Sea, coming in contact with multiple Israeli checkpoints during an hours-long journey that should take minutes.
This is because the land directly between the two cities, on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, is largely devoid of infrastructure, having long been earmarked for Israeli development.
Applications to build on the land by Palestinians require Israeli government approval, which is rarely granted, and the Palestinian population is limited to a handful of Bedouin tribes living off the land.
But while Israeli settlers have been encroaching on Palestinian territory in the West Bank for decades — a practice overwhelmingly considered to be illegal by the international community — this proposed settlement is different.
Despite being first announced in 1994, construction in this 12-square kilometre patch known as the E1 zone has so far been stalled by the Israeli government, due to heavy international pressure.
That's because Israeli settlement of the E1 zone would physically link Jerusalem, to the west, with a large Israeli settlement to the east called Ma'ale Adumim — giving Israel a justification to extend its contentious West Bank barrier wall to encompass both settlements entirely.
Given the Israeli "firing zone" that sits east of Ma'ale Adumim, a barrier extension would, in effect, bisect the West Bank — separating the territory's north from its south, as well as isolating East Jerusalem (nominally the seat of government for a future Palestinian state) from other Palestinian cities.
Critics of the plan say carving up the West Bank would devastate the prospect of a viable Palestinian state — already slated to be non-contiguous due to the separation of the West Bank and the war-ravaged, famine-stricken Gaza Strip.
Its supporters agree.
While announcing his plan to move ahead with construction in the E1 zone, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — a settler himself — said the move meant the idea of a Palestinian state was "being erased from the table not with slogans, but with actions".
"Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea," he said.
Last Wednesday, the Israeli government gave final approval to Mr Smotrich's plan, meaning construction will soon begin on housing in the area — to the dismay of those who had hoped it could one day be part of a land swap deal between two neighbouring states.
World reacts with anger, but US stays silent
Israel's announcement was heavily criticised by the Palestinian Authority — the body most likely to govern an independent Palestine — which said the move would "destroy" the prospects of a two-state solution.
The announcement was also condemned by the international community, with the foreign ministers of 21 nations, including Australia, issuing a joint statement that described the decision as "unacceptable and a violation of international law".
"We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms," the statement read.
"Minister Smotrich says this plan will make a two-state solution impossible by dividing any Palestinian state and restricting Palestinian access to Jerusalem.
"This brings no benefits to the Israeli people. Instead, it risks undermining security and fuels further violence and instability, taking us further away from peace.
"The government of Israel still has an opportunity to stop the E1 plan going any further. We encourage them to urgently retract this plan."
As expected, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not a signatory to the statement.
On the same day Israel approved the settlement, Mr Rubio imposed sanctions on four members of the International Criminal Court, on the basis that it had become "an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally".
One of the judges sanctioned by the US had authorised the ICC's issuing of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while two prosecutors were also targeted for upholding the warrants.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, however, when asked about the E1 settlement approval, said pursuing a two-state solution was not a "high priority" for the Trump administration.
The reality on the ground meant there remained a lot of unanswered questions about what a Palestinian state might look like, he told the Associated Press.
Settlement growth outpacing diplomacy
It's the reality on the ground that opponents of the E1 settlement are most concerned about.
Israel's plan would see about 3,400 housing units built in the E1 zone, and eviction orders have already been issued to Bedouin communities living inside the zone.
The first group of evictees were given a deadline of this past Thursday, August 21, to leave their homes, and are now waiting for bulldozers to come and destroy them.
If the construction process moves just as quickly, work on new infrastructure could begin over the next few months, and new Israeli homes could be being built by mid-2026.
A proposed road to link the West Bank's north and south via tunnels under the E1 zone — nominally to improve travel times, and reduce the need for Palestinians to go through Israeli checkpoints — is also being advanced in Israel, with the country's security cabinet allocating funds in March.
But Peace Now, an anti-occupation Israeli group that tracks settlement expansion in the West Bank, says the road's construction is a cynical exercise, solely aimed at enabling the annexation of large part of the West Bank.
"The government's cynicism knows no bounds, as it seeks to construct the road using funds extracted from the fruits of Israeli control over the occupied territories — funds that, by law, are designated for the benefit of the Palestinian population," the group says.
The ABC has approached the Israeli government for comment.
Indeed, while much of the world's attention has been focused on the war in Gaza, Israel's expansion of settlements in the West Bank has continued — shifting the "facts on the ground", even as diplomats speak of a return to the 1967 boundaries and countries including Australia move to recognise a Palestinian state.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in both Israeli government-sanctioned settlements and unsanctioned outposts.
There have also been marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, and the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs currently puts the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the October 7, 2023 attacks (in the context of occupation and conflict) at 995.
About 35 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank over the same period — 23 of whom were soldiers, and 11 of whom were settlers.
Israel could, in theory, remove the settlements at some future date, as it did with 21 settlements in Gaza in 2005.
But that possibility appears remote at present, given its current government is dominated by ultranationalist politicians like Mr Smotrich — not to mention being led by Mr Netanyahu, who resigned from Israel's cabinet over the 2005 removals.
Indeed, Mr Netanyahu rejects the idea of Palestinian statehood entirely, and has vowed to maintain open-ended control over the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
"In any future arrangement … Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan," he said in January last year.
"This collides with the idea of sovereignty [for Palestinians]. What can you do?"
Peace Now says the Netanyahu government is more interested in self-preservation than ensuring security for either Israelis or Palestinians.
"The settlement in E1 has no purpose other than to sabotage a political solution," the group says.
"While the consensus among our friends in the world is to strive for peace and a two-state solution, a government that long ago lost the people's trust is undermining the national interest, and we are all paying the price."
ABC/AP
