The European Union has urged Israel to withdraw a tender for more than 1,200 homes in the occupied West Bank and to abandon the wider E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem.
The call came in a statement issued Sunday by the EU’s diplomatic service, the European External Action Service. DR reports that the EU thereby joins a growing list of critics of the Israeli tender.
According to the EEAS statement, carrying out the E1 plan would split the West Bank in two and isolate East Jerusalem. The service also repeats the bloc’s position that Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including in E1, are illegal under international law. The EU asks Israel to withdraw the tender, halt all settlement expansion projects and ensure accountability for settler violence.
The E1 project covers roughly 3,400 housing units between the settlement of Maale Adumim and East Jerusalem. It was approved by the Israeli government last year. The current tender is only one part of that plan.
What the tender covers
The Times of Israel reports that the government opened bidding on August 18 for seven residential compounds with 1,234 housing units. The outlet notes that these units form part of about 3,400 E1 units green-lit in August 2025. It also cites the Israeli group Peace Now, which alleges the tender breached a state commitment to notify petitioners first.
BBC News puts the approved total at 3,401 units and describes the project as highly sensitive. Al Jazeera reports that the plan would create a continuous Israeli settlement corridor between East Jerusalem and Maale Adumim. The outlet adds that the rights group Ir Amim says the tenders were published despite an ongoing legal challenge.
DR notes that the tender was condemned last week by seven countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada. In a joint statement, the governments called the offer of new homes unacceptable. Bloomberg reports that they also warned businesses against bidding on the E1 tenders.
Per BBC News, the British foreign secretary described the publication of the tender as an unacceptable and destructive act. The broadcaster reports that Israel’s chargé d’affaires was summoned in London. As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the UK also raised the possibility of sanctions on individuals involved in West Bank settlement expansion.
The EEAS ties the timing of its statement directly to the tender. It states that the publication of the offer for more than 1,200 housing units fundamentally harms the prospect of a two-state solution. Rights groups cited by Xinhua on August 19 warned that even partial construction would create irreversible facts on the ground.
