UN Chief Warns Israeli E1 Settlement Plans Threaten Two-State Solution

(MENAFN) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that Israel’s plans to expand settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank are “unlawful” and could divide the territory’s northern and southern regions, delivering a significant setback to the two-state solution, according to reports.

"In the occupied West Bank, relentless illegal settlement expansion, demolitions, displacement, and evictions are accelerating," Guterres said during the opening of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP).

He highlighted that over 37,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank in 2025, a year that also saw unprecedented levels of violence by Israeli settlers. "The recently published tender by Israel for 3,401 housing units in the E1 area – alongside continued demolitions – is profoundly alarming," Guterres added.

"If carried forward, it would sever the northern and southern West Bank, undermine territorial contiguity, and strike a severe blow to the viability of a two-state solution," he said.

Guterres emphasized that these actions, along with Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, are “deeply destabilizing” and “unlawful” under international law, as recalled by the International Court of Justice.

Since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Israeli operations in the West Bank have intensified, including killings, home demolitions, forced displacement, and settlement expansion. Palestinians argue that this escalation is intended to facilitate Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, which they say would effectively eliminate the possibility of a two-state solution envisioned in UN resolutions.

Official Palestinian sources report that more than 1,110 Palestinians have been killed, around 11,500 wounded, and over 21,000 arrested in the West Bank since the escalation began.

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