E1: The Illegal Settlement At The Heart Of The UK's West Bank Trade Ban

And third, the construction of E1 would involve the displacement of Palestinians. This includes people in the community of Khan al-Ahmar, which Israeli authorities ordered should be evacuated in May 2026 ahead of the new settlement construction.

Israeli government ministers have been explicit that E1 would suffocate any future Palestinian state. In September 2025, when announcing new progress on E1, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:“We are going to fulfil our promise that there will be no Palestinian state.” His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has also said E1 would“bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.

The E1 project has advanced considerably in recent times, after years of delay. In August 2025, final planning approval was given for more than 3,400 housing units on the site. Then, in August 2026, the first call for construction tenders was issued to build 1,200 residential units in the southern part of E1. The closing date for bidding is on October 19, just before Israeli elections on October 27.

The UK's import ban, which seems intended to deter companies from taking part in building E1, has been backed by similar measures announced by countries including Canada, France, Ireland and Spain.

The ban on settlement goods demonstrates mounting international concern about Israel's actions. More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live on land captured in the 1967 six-day war, even though settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law.

Israeli rights group, Peace Now, reports that more than 102 new settlements have been approved since 2022, most deep inside the West Bank. The Israeli military often supports settlers building new outposts, and the Israeli government provides substantial financial backing to establish settlements.

The UN says that more than 6,400 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank due to settler attacks and access restrictions since January 2023, of which at least 2,500 were displaced in 2026 alone.

In addition, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been displaced from refugee camps during Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank since late 2024.

Israel's expanded control over the West Bank is one element in a broader revisionist policy to push its borders outwards, which marks a step change from a previous strategy of conflict management.

The new moves come in the wake of the October 2023 attacks, when Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,200 Israelis and captured 250 hostages, and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and devastated the strip.