Israel opens up bids for highly sensitive West Bank settlement project

BBC:

Israel has opened up tenders for the construction of some 1,200 settlement homes in a strategically important part of the occupied West Bank, as the government seeks to end any chance of a Palestinian state.

Plans to build on the so-called E1 area – east of Jerusalem – have long been internationally condemned, with settlements illegal under international law.

The development would in effect divide the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem.

UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has condemned the publication of a tender as “an unacceptable and destructive act”, and called on Israel to “halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender and stop all settlement expansion”.

Israel’s foreign minister responded harshly to Miliband’s statement, which he said he “reject[ed] outright”.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for a hoped-for future state – during the 1967 Middle East war. An estimated 3.3 million Palestinians live alongside them.

Despite the fierce international opposition, successive Israeli governments have allowed settlements to grow.